Sugar and Salt
by scarletcanary
Summary: Amaya is trying to run a business and raise her newly orphaned niece. Sara just wants the other kids to stop bullying her kid. Zari's trying to raise her little brother and give him the childhood she never had. When unexpected circumstances force them all to admit their feelings in an attempt to form honest relationships, they find that it's not as easy as it seems.
1. A Pocket Full of Rye

Amaya watched as the chocolate dripped down the side of the cake. In the cool back room of her bakery, it soon hardened in perfect droplets down the side of the cake. She gently turned it around and around dripping the chocolate down the sides. The morning February sun filtered in through the back windows, leaving soft golden light on the black mats beneath her feet. Everything was quiet, save for the sound of the morning birds as they called out to greet the Sun. Having done all the baking the night before, all Amaya had to do this morning was turn it into a work of art.

Amaya loved working like this, coming in early in the morning and opening up, where she could be alone in her space. These days she didn't get to do that very often as someone else took precedence over her work. She looked up and glanced over at Kuasa asleep on the couch in Sara and Zari's shared office, the little girl was curled up like a cat. Amaya hated to drag her into work at such an early hour, as she was still getting used to the early morning hours her aunt kept.

Amaya had officially adopted Kuasa three months ago, when Amaya's sister and brother in law died in a car crash nine months ago. They were both still mourning the loss and not a day went by that Amaya didn't think of Esi and Jafari. She wished she could be half the parent that Esi was, but it was so hard. Kuasa had so much anger at the loss she had suffered. Amaya was still trying to get her to trust the home she had built.

Amaya went back to work swirling the chocolate on top, and began to prep the other decorations. By the time she was done the sun had risen, and she looked at the clock as she placed the cake in a box with their purple logo stamped on top. Jiwe's Bakery had started out with her baking goods for friends and family in her kitchen in high school. After culinary school and a generous investment from her parents, she opened her doors in the big city and things had only grown from there. Luckily she wasn't alone in the endeavor, she had Sara, Kendra, Zari, and her family. They all believed in her and were so proud of the woman she had become.

Although they were usually closed on Saturday, this Saturday was the student bake sale at the school. Deemed mandatory by the PTA. Despite the fact that she was mad that all of the money was all going to the school's new sports field, and not being used for textbooks or school equipment. Amaya had to convince Kuasa that it would be a good learning experience. She could finally see what it was like for her aunt as she ran the bakery. Amaya had gone as far as to get a food handler permit for her niece. Kuasa had reluctantly prepared her poster and came up with a name for her "business."

After placing the cake box in the fridge, Amaya walked into the office. Amaya never felt the need to have one, the kitchen was her office. After dusting off her hands on the cloth she kept tucked in the waistband of her apron, she sat down on the couch next to Kuasa. She gently swept the little girl's Havana twist braids away from her face.

"Time to wake up little one," Amaya said, keeping her voice as soft as the morning around her.

Kuasa finally stirred, throwing her hands over her eyes trying to block out the morning light.

"It's too early, Nana Ba."

Amaya chuckled at the teasing nickname she had given her. "If I can get up at this hour despite being so old, then certainly someone as young as you can do so as well."

Kuasa groaned, but sat up and rubbed her eyes. Amaya stood up and led the sleepy girl out into the kitchen. While Kuasa washed her hands, Amaya placed the dough on the table in front of her. She checked the oven and prepared the cookie sheet. Kuasa finally came over and yawned, not bothering to cover her mouth.

"Why are we doing this?" Kuasa complained.

"You know why. There are things we have to do and this is one of them. It's a good thing to learn."

"Why, I'm not going to take over your bakery. I'm not you."

"This isn't about that, it's to help you learn good money exchange skills and besides its mandatory for all fourth graders."

Kuasa made a face and mumbled something about the PTA being stupid. Amaya let it slide as Kuasa voiced her frustrations, and the PTA had gradually slipped on to Amaya's shit list.

Amaya broke off a small portion of the dough and rolled it into a ball. Kuasa then pressed her thumb into the middle of the ball, flattening it out and creating a tiny bowl. Kuasa then spooned out a bit of jam and filled the indentation she had made.

They continued until they had used up all the dough and placed the last cookie sheet in the oven. Then they got to work packaging the cookies into individual bags and tying them closed. Between their industrial mixer and their usual recipe, they made twice as much as they needed, but Amaya figured they could always give away what they didn't sell.

As they were putting the cookie bags into boxes, Mrs. Solsa knocked on the door. Amaya again wiped her hands on the cloth at her waist and got the cake from the fridge.

"Here you go Mrs. Solsa," Amaya said, letting her in and presenting the cake for her inspection.

"Oh thank you Miss Jiwe, I do so appreciate you doing this for me and on your day off too." Mrs. Solsa said smiling down at the cake. "And it's such a beautiful cake too."

"I was happy to do it," Amaya said as she opened the door for Mrs. Solsa and waved to her as she walked out to her car.

Amaya locked the door behind her and looked up at the clock on the wall. It was half past eight, and they had to be there in time to set up before the sale opened at nine.

"Kuasa, why don't you start loading these in the car?" Amaya said as she came back into the kitchen and packed up the rest of the cookies into a box.

"Okay Nana Ba," Kuasa said, picking up two of the boxes and walking out the back door to the gravel parking lot in the alleyway behind the store.

Amaya just shook her head at her and tied up the box with twine.

They had loaded half the boxes in the trunk of Amaya's car when she saw Zari's old black hatchback pull up. Zari parked next to Amaya's car and hopped out, running up to Amaya in a panic.

"I completely forgot about the bake sale! Please tell me you have some cookies or I'm screwed!" Zari exclaimed.

Amaya supposed she shouldn't, but she laughed anyway and placed the box of cookies that she was carrying in Zari's arms. As her business expanded, Amaya looked into having an actual website rather than just a Facebook page, that's how she met Zari. The young computer programmer and social media influencer was a frequent customer and admirer of everything Amaya made. After her parents died, leaving her the responsibility of raising her young brother, Zari needed a real job.

Zari brought them into the 21st century, with a new cashier setup that streamlined the financial side and website that allowed customers to make any custom orders. Zari also set up a growing social media platform that boosted business, catching the eye of people all around the world. She kept them up to date on the latest kitchen gadgets and technology. Four years later, Amaya couldn't remember ever running the business without her.

"Does Behrad have a sign and everything else ready?" Amaya asked.

"Yes," Zari said as she surveyed the cookies. "He's good, he's got a great sign and everything. I don't know what I was thinking the last few days. I just completely forgot."

Amaya puts her arm around Zari as they both walked to the back of her car with the rest of the cookies. Zari opened the trunk and set the box down. Amaya glanced at her, now worry free, Zari picked up one of the cookies and surveyed it. They had never sold thumbprint cookies, but Kuasa decided that's what she wanted. Hence, it was a new recipe Amaya had created by tweaking the original one.

Amaya could see the wheels turning in Zari's head as she looked over the cookies to see if one would be missed. Zari unwrapped the packaging and shoved it into her mouth, letting out a sigh of happiness as she so often did whenever Amaya asked her to be her taste tester.

"It's so good," Zari said, her mouth full of cookie crumbs.

A soft smile spread its way across Amaya's face and her heart fluttered in her chest with a familiar feeling.

"Zari!" Behrad shouted at her from the back seat, his soft brown hair disheveled as he and Zari were dressed in matching flannel shirts. "Those aren't for you. They're for the bake sale."

"I'm just trying one out," Zari replied, opening her eyes and catching Amaya smiling at her.

Zari smiled back and licked her lips and it took a minute for Amaya to come back to herself.

"We should get going," Amaya said, taking a step backwards towards her car.

"Right," Zari said, closing her trunk door.

Amaya got into her car and clicked her seatbelt, glancing into the rearview mirror at Kuasa. A habit that she'd had since she first drove the girl home from the hospital with her sister and her husband in the back seat.

"Why do you and Zari look at each other like that?" Kuasa asked, innocently enough.

"Like what?" Amaya said, knowing exactly what Kuasa was talking about as she turned the key in the car.

"I don't know? I guess it's just how you smile at her sometimes."

Amaya looked back at her in the rearview mirror before she pulled the car into the alleyway. She was reluctant to admit the feelings that she had for Zari. Her life was complicated enough with Kuasa and the business. Amaya didn't want to lose her best friend, but she couldn't help the way she looked at Zari and the want she had for her.

* * *

They made it to school in good time, and they all shuffled into the gym with only mild looks from the other parents. Everyone was already there with their tables set up. It was rows and rows of the little plastic top tables, all neatly decorated and arranged with different treats.

"Hey, I'm glad you're here," Mona Wu, the school's bus driver, and recess referee greeted them. "Sin and Sara, and Aldus and Kendra are waiting for you just over there."

"Thank you Miss Wu," Behrad said as they made their way over to the corner tables where they were sitting.

"Hey you guys," Kendra said, with a bright smile as greeted them.

"We reserved those two tables for you," Aldus said, rolling up to them in his wheelchair.

"Thanks Aldus," Zari said, setting her boxes of cookies on the table.

"Yes, thank you," Amaya said, doing the same with the table next to Zari.

When Amaya hired Kendra who was working as a barista and pastry chef. Kendra was fresh out of culinary school with little to no experience, but more passion than Amaya knew a person could have. She helped Amaya to double her custom orders and decorated their window display with the best pastries in town.

Kendra was a newlywed when Amaya hired her and got pregnant soon after she started. When Aldus was born with spina bifida, her husband, Carter quit his job to be a stay at home dad and Kendra continued to work at the bakery.

Amaya spread out the fresh white tablecloth and Kuasa taped up her sign. She had grabbed a few of their nicer display racks that they used for weddings and other special occasions. They added class to the otherwise plain table and Amaya caught Kuasa's look of pride as they organized the cookies.

It didn't take long and Amaya sat down in one go the extra chairs, looking over at Sara. She had her eyes closed and head resting in her arms over the money box. Sin was busy playing a game on her Nintendo switch and looked equally tired.

Sara opened her eyes sensing Amaya's gaze and gave her a small smile.

"Hey sleepyhead," Amaya said as Sara yawned and stretched. Hiring Sara was a no-brainer. Amaya loved baking, but was totally lost her first month in trying to keep up with the day to day sales, revenue, taxes, and balancing the budget.

Sara had dropped out of college with a bachelor's and several classes in business under her belt after she had followed Oliver Queen to business school. Amaya just knew she was the one from the moment she walked into the kitchen and showed Amaya how to keep a record of sales and supplies so she'd never run out. Amaya hired her on the spot, and she's never regretted her choice. Sara kept the business running so that Amaya could focus on what she loved.

Sara got pregnant shortly after Kendra did, and Amaya had no problem with Sara bringing Sin in with her. Although Sin wasn't allowed in the kitchen, the office became a second nursery and was still a playroom for all the kids.

"I was up way too late last night. Sin decided that they wanted their design to be in the non-binary colors instead of just the purple and black they had originally picked out. So I had to run out and buy all new napkins and the ribbon for the bags," Sara explained as she held up one of the cookie bags tied up with four colors of thin ribbon.

"Well, it looks great." Zari smiled.

* * *

Zari looked over at Kendra's table. The sign Aldus had designed was perfect, and he must have used Kendra's letter cutting machine. The table was just as put together and was highly decorated with Kendra's fine dining tablecloth, and good china.

Sara's table looked just as put together. Although Sin had handwritten their poster, they had inspectable handwriting and had alternating colored letters in the non-binary flag of yellow, white, purple, and black. They had also decorated the table with matching colored napkins and plastic black tablecloth.

Zari looked down at the empty white table that had been provided for them and figured that it would have to do. She looked over at Behrad and could tell he was disappointed as he taped up his poster. Zari kicked herself for not being on top of this.

She had been Behrad's legal guardian for four years now. Despite that, she still felt like she did during the first year when she was still trying to figure out how to be a looked over at Amaya as she spread a table cloth across Kuasa's table. Like Zari, she had found herself as Kuasa's legal guardian a year ago, but she was already doing a better job than Zari ever had.

Behrad was busy arranging the cookies. She picked up a few and tried to put it in place next to the line he had created.

"I got it," Behrad insisted as he pushed her away.

"Okay," Zari said, sitting back and looking over at Sara.

Sara smiled back before yawning again. "Are we starting yet?"

"Not yet honey," Kendra said, giving her smile. "But you'll want to stay up. I see Mrs. Tabitha headed this way."

They all looked over to see the witch of an old woman strolling from table to table, making pleasant talk with the other parents and kids. Although she was merely the principal's secretary, she ran the school like she was in charge. They all groaned, with disdain painted across their faces. Zari crossed her arms but put on a smile as she approached, with Sara, Kendra, and Amaya following her lead. Tabitha had a particular hatred of them, making all these functions impossible.

"Well hello Dearies," Tabitha said with pseudo cheerfulness as she looked around their tables. "Now what do we have here?"

She reached to pick up one of Kuasa's cookies, turning the bag over in her hand.

"They're thumbprint cookies fresh out of the oven this morning," Kuasa happily announced, her shoulders straight and head held high in pride.

"Oh?" Tabitha tisked. "These look awfully familiar."

Tabitha reached into her pocket and pulled out another cookie. Zari recognized it as one of their Jammie Dodgers catching the purple Jiwe Bakery logo. Tabitha held the two cookies side by side.

"Miss Jiwe, I am surprised at the lack of effort on your part, taking pre-made cookies from your store. I thought you, a baker of all people would I've had the best cookies here today."

Zari's mouth fell open in shock. Was the woman blind? The thumbprint cookies and the Jammie Dodgers weren't even remotely the same.

"We made them ourselves this morning at the bakery that's my fingerprint," Kuasa said, pointing to the jam in her cookie.

"Miss Tabitha," Amaya said trying to explain herself. "We did bake these cookies at the bakery this morning, but we did so by ourselves. They are homemade, as the requirements stated."

"Yes, but you and your niece admitted that you made them at the bakery this morning. Who is to say you didn't simply grab some cookies that were intended for sale at your business and try to pass them off as homemade? I'm afraid such action must disqualify you and Kuasa and from selling these cookies today."

"But that's not fair," Kuasa shouted. "We made these!"

"Miss Tabitha we did make these at the bakery and I promise you we had our own recipe. It seems unfair to disqualify us, just because you believe we're being untruthful."

"How dare you call me a liar? My decision is final. Pack up your things and please leave at once. You too, Miss Tomaz," Tabitha said, picking up one of Behrad's cookies and shaking her head. "Don't think I didn't notice how unprepared you are today, and stealing your friend's cookies. What a bad example you two have set for the children that have been entrusted into your care. I'd hate to see such behavior continue."

Zari couldn't believe what Tabitha had just said, bluntly threatening them like that. She was ready to open her mouth and call out Tabitha for being the entitled bitch that she was, but Zari held her tongue. She knew that it would only make things worse. Zari looked over at Behrad, he hung his head and stared at the ground in defeat.

Kuasa let out an enraged shout and stomped. Amaya looked over at Zari, she could see her feeling of failure mirrored on Amaya's face.

Zari thought that would be the end of Tabitha's rant, but she turned towards Sara and Kendra with accusatory eyes. She turned her attention towards Aldus and Sin's tables, quickly picking up one of each of their cookies and inspecting them.

"You have to pay for that, you know," Sara said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Tabitha tutted, but continued her inspection. "I suppose these will have to do."

Zari looked down. She felt like she had brought Tabitha's wrath upon all of her friends as she was the one who pissed her off several years ago. She looked over at Behrad who was sitting quietly in the chairs, just staring blankly at the floor.

"This isn't fair!" Kuasa shouted stomping her feet and getting Tabitha's attention.

"Kuasa's right, none of these rules were ever presented to us, and you can't just change them the day of," Amaya said placing a hand on Kuasa's shoulder, backing them up.

"You're just being mean because you don't like us," Kuasa announced, her words catching the attention of everyone in the area.

"What's going on here?" Mona asked as she and Ms. Ava Sharpe, Sin and Behrad's teacher, approached them.

"Tabitha has disqualified us all for absurd reasons," Zari said.

"They're not absurd," Tabitha screeched. "They were all in clear violation of the rules."

"They're stupid rules!" Kuasa said.

"It's because Amaya and I bought the cookies she made at the bakery, but she didn't use one of our recipes," Zari explained to them.

"I don't see why that's a problem? They used the resources available to them," Mona asked with a confused look on her face.

"I agree, that should disqualify them," Ms. Sharpe said, crossing her arms as well.

"Well," Tabitha said, clearly enraged that Mona and Ms. Sharpe weren't taking her side. But then she smiled in a way that made Zari uneasy. "Why don't we let principal Darhk decide."

Zari sighed and even Kuasa deflated, as they all knew Darhk would take Tabitha's side, and his word would be final.

* * *

"Well, I must say I agree with Miss Tabitha on this. The rules were clearly stated beforehand and you have indeed broken them," Principal Darhk said, as he sat across from them at his desk in his office.

Tabitha stood next to him with a triumphant smile. Zari and Amaya stood in front of his desk, as their children waited outside.

"But the rules were only changed yesterday!" Zari protested.

"On the contrary, they were actually changed more than a week ago. There was an email if I recall. If you want to see the date it's printed right here," Darhk said holding up the piece of paper for them, his finger on a date. He wore that easy smile he always had that put Zari on edge.

"All right, we'll go," Amaya said, turning towards the door in defeat.

"Hold on Dearie," Tabatha said with a cunning smile. "The bake sale was a mandatory volunteer day for all parents. Since the two of you have been banned from participating, you will have to make up that volunteer work somewhere else."

"Fine," Zari said wearily, hoping that this simply meant volunteering in class, but knowing that was unlikely.

"Yes, and that reminds me we need some people to help set up for the spring concert. I'm sure our music teacher, Mrs. Heywood, would appreciate some help with the decorations." Darhk said, folding his hands together. "So I will see the two of you here, this Monday at 9 a.m. You should only have to work until 3pm or so if you work diligently and it should only take a week."

"What?" They both cried out.

"But we have a business to run?" Amaya said.

There was no way Kendra and Sara could do everything on their own. Even if they did the morning baking, there was no way they could work at full capacity and make all of the week's orders. It took both her and Kendra, and Sara was not used to doing more than helping out.

"Well, you should have thought about that before you broke the rules of the bake sale," Tabitha snared.

"Surely we can work out a schedule where each of us can volunteer at different times," Zari said.

"I'm afraid not," Darhk said. "There is a lot of work to be done and we absolutely need all hands on deck."

"You can't do this! You can't mandate us to volunteer during the workweek," Amaya said, taking a defiance stance.

"Oh, but we can, all right here in the contract that you signed, and you signed up for the PTA at the beginning of the year. It is a public school after all, and we don't have the resources of private education," Darhk said, as he pulled the contract out of his desk, holding it over to them.

Amaya took the paper rather forcefully from his hand, looking it over and flipping through the pages before finally finding the section on the bake sale.

"All parents must volunteer in the bake sale held in February. The rules of which will be sent out in an email unless parents are present at the PTA meeting during which they will be handed out to them. Failure to partake will result in additional volunteer hours administered by the administration at their discretion," Amaya read aloud. "Yeah, it doesn't say anything about you forcing us all to volunteer at the same time during the workweek."

"Yes, but the workweek is the only time that the school is open. I wouldn't want my teachers having to give up their weekend, simply because two parents failed their duties at the school, and it does specify the likes of which in index A."

"What index A," Amaya exclaimed, waving the paper about. "I don't remember seeing an index A and I read this thing from front to back at the beginning of the school year."

Darhk merely turned around and opened one of his cabinets, pulling out another section of papers, handing them over to Amaya. "I believe it's page 4, before subsection C."

Amaya grabbed it out of his hand and went to the page and read aloud again. "Mandatory parent volunteer work must not exceed but is not limited to 40 consecutive hours, administered at the administration's discretion."

That's illegal, you can't force us to provide unpaid labor for a whole week!" Zari shouted.

"It's not unpaid labor. It's volunteer work. Work that you all agreed to do when you signed the contract joining the PTA. I thought you of all people Mis. Jiwe would have read the contract in its entirety. You are a businesswoman."

If looks could kill their combination of hated glares would have set Darhk and Tabitha six feet under. Zari was appalled at the things this administration was pulling out of their ass just to punish them.

Amaya clenched her hands, no doubt wishing that they would be around Damien's neck. Zari had similar thoughts of anger, but she would never risk anything that would jeopardize Behrad's place at the school. It was the best public school in the district, and she wouldn't risk Behrad's education over petty revenge. She would, however, have a long prayer for Allah later today.

Amaya turned around and opened the door, leaving. Zari gave them one dirty look before following her out.

The kids were sitting in the chairs just outside the office waiting for them. with Sara, Sin, Kendra, and Aldus, waiting with them. They all looked up with hopeful gazes as they left office, only to see their defeat and anger as they walked out.

"Time to go home," Amaya announced.

Zari walked over to Behrad and put her arm around his shoulder as he got up, but he quickly shrugged her off. She watched as he ran ahead to stand next to Aldus, holding his hand as he left the school. He has been doing that a lot lately. After their parents died he had sought out her comfort almost hourly, but recently his behavior had changed as he rebuffed her.

They all walked out to the parking lot in silence, carrying their boxes. The bake sale was in full swing as people walked in and out of the gym. Sara and Kendra had walked out in support of them and Tabatha screamed that they would be forced to volunteer as well.

"Does anyone want to go out for brunch? Amaya asked in a clear attempt to cheer them all up.

"Not today," Kendra said as they approached her van and she opened the door with her remote to let the ramp out.

"Yeah, it's a no from us too," Sara said. "I think I'm just going to go home and sleep, and then maybe hit the skatepark later."

"We'll go with you," Zari said.

"We will?" Behard asked, catching her words.

"Yeah," Zari shrugged, it's not like they had anything better to do.

Amaya smiled at her and Zari's heart did a flip flop. It seemed that Amaya had that smile just for her. It made Zari wonder if she had feelings for her as well, or if it was just a misguided attempt to read between the lines. Her greatest fear was that Amaya didn't like her back or that she would be put off by Zari's advances. Zari loved their relationship as friends too much to try and ruin them, and the thought of losing Amaya was unbearable.

* * *

Twenty minutes later they're both downtown and seated at a booth in one of the nicer places in town. It was a modern dinner that was cheaper than the chain franchises and twice as good. But, the coffee was not as good as the coffee Kendra makes, of course. The waitress came by to take their order and Zari ordered a whole large breakfast plate as usual. Amaya smiled at her appetite and ordered an extra round of hash browns in addition to her order that would come out before the main dishes.

"Can we go play?" Behrad asked, looking towards the kid's table that was set up with board games and other toys.

Amaya was reluctant to let them go as it meant letting Kuasa out of her sight.

"Yeah, go on," Zari said, getting up so Behrad could get out of the booth.

"Thanks," he said as Kuasa also got up and ran to the table.

Amaya watched them go, her eyes trailing after Kuasa as she and Behrad picked out a board game and started to set it up.

"Relax, they'll be fine," Zari said, with a gentle voice, leaning over and grabbing hold of Amaya's hand.

Amaya looked down at Zari's hand in hers. She tried not to let Zari see the blush on her cheek and the way her heart fluttered in her chest.

"I know," Amaya said, looking back over at Kuasa. "But I just can't get over the feeling that I could lose her."

"Yeah, I felt like that too for the first year after our parents died," Zari said, looking over to the kids as well.

"Will it get any easier?" Amaya asked, looking back at Zari. "I just feel like Kuasa is so mad all the time, at me, at the world, at everything. I've been trying all the anger management stuff the parenting books suggest, but nothing works."

"I don't know. I hope so. I just keep watching as Behard further isolates himself in his room. I brought up maybe going to see the therapist again, but it just ended with both of us yelling at each other," Zari said, shaking her head and looking away. "He doesn't look at me like a parent, he just sees me as his annoying big sister."

"I used to be the cool aunt who would let her eat frosting and play at the park all day," Amaya said with a sad smile. "Now I have to make sure she eats her vegetables and does her homework. It's a rough transition, I get it."

Zari looked back at her and Amaya squeezed her hand. It felt nice to be able to have someone who was going through what she was. Kendra and Sara were a great help too, but they gave birth to their kids and that parenting role was theirs from day one. They weren't thrust into parenthood with a child that wasn't used to seeing them in a caregiver position, like Amaya was.

"Maybe you should go see them first Zari. If Behrad sees you going, then maybe he'll go as well."

"I don't know," Zari admitted, hesitant to talk with a stranger, even a professional. "It's not like I can just get a babysitter or take off work."

"Why not," Amaya shrugged. "I'd be happy to cover for you at the bakery or babysit if you needed me to, and I'm sure Kendra and Sara would say the same thing."

"Thanks, I'll think about it. For now, I might as well just get around to finishing that book Eshal gave me at the mosque about raising Muslim boys."

"That sounds like a good place to start."

"Yeah, I don't know. I guess reading it made me feel like I wasn't good enough."

"That's not true, you are good enough," Amaya said, reaching over and squeezing Zari's hand. "Just think of it like this. Parenting is something you've never done before and you're just learning how to do it. I know it's hard and if you want, I have a few books I've used and maybe we can share."

"That'd be great, thanks," Zari said, giving her a small smile.

Amaya smiled back, and it's so soft and full of love that it made Zari feel like her smile grew to match. Her heart swelled in her chest as Amaya gave Zari her love. Zari looked over at her. Everything about Amaya was soft, her demeanor, her voice, her eyes, her touch, her smile, her everything.

Zari felt like she was always too rough around the edges. She felt that if someone got too close, they would scratch themselves. Amaya never cared about her rough shape, she took Zari's bluntness and sarcasm and she smiled at her because of it. In return, Zari tried to be more honest and not hide the tender parts of herself from Amaya.

"Enough about the kids," Zari said, looking down hoping to hide her pink cheeks. "Tell me about any new baking ideas you have."

This was her favorite question to ask Amaya because her face lit up, and Zari could see the excitement build up as Amaya sat up straighter.

"Well, I've been thinking about doing this new treat of the month sort of thing. For example, in October, I was considering doing little mini pumpkin pie cakes. They wouldn't quite be a pumpkin pie, I'm thinking I'd make it more thick and fluffy like a cake and more on the sweeter side. I haven't quite gotten down a recipe I prefer, but I've been experimenting in my free time and I think I found something that would work well, but there was this one…"

Zari smiled as she watched Amaya go on and on about her idea. Her happy enthusiasm was so enjoyable, and she lit up like the sun. Zari loved watching her passion come through in everything that Amaya did. She scribbled down her brainstormed ideas for recipes on little post-it notes and enthusiastically told their customers about the masterpieces she was going to make. One that will make their special day one they would never forget.

When the waitress came over and dropped off the plate of hash browns, Amaya paused to say thank you to her before going back to describing her idea. The flowered lemon tart that Amaya wanted to make for April would have made Zari's mouth water. If she wasn't already stuffing it with hash browns. The next few minutes flew by, and soon the waitress was returning with their meals, placing the plates down in front of them.

Kuasa and Behrad returned, arguing over who won their game of checkers that never truly ended. They all laughed and talked and for an hour and Zari forgot about the disaster of the bake sale and about her failed parenting. After they finished eating, Zari suggested that they all go to the park.

The kids took off the moment they got there, heading straight for the playground. Zari and Amaya spent the first half hour playing with them and chasing them around the play center. The early gray morning and light misting rain meant that there were only a few other adults and kids in the park. So Zari and Amaya weren't too concerned when Kuasa and Behrad ran off to play hide and seek in the trees with a few of the other kids.

Zari all but collapsed onto the park bench, sighing and slipping off her coat that had suddenly become too hot. Amaya's laugh is clear and rich as she sat down next to her.

"See I don't need a workout. I can just pretend to be the Lava Monster and I'll have a six pack by the end of the week."

Amaya grabbed her hand and laughed again, throwing her head back and letting herself laugh, loud and full. Zari smiled as her heart felt like someone had wrapped it in a warm electric blanket. Once Amaya's laughter died down, she just stared at Zari in delight, a subtle smirk on her lips.

"What?" Zari asked.

"Nothing." Amaya looked down and Zari could see her cheeks flush and not because of the cold or their bout of energy.

Zari wasn't a fool. She knew Amaya liked her, but something was holding her back from pursuing her. Zari's not exactly sure what it was, but she had her suspicions. Between the laughter, the smiling, the blushing, the touching. Zari was tired of trying to hide her feelings from Amaya and grasped her hand.

Amaya turned to look at her with an open mouth, and Zari leaned in slowly enough that Amaya could catch on to what she was doing and pull away if she wanted to. Instead, Amaya tilted her head, closed her eyes, and presented her lips to Zari's. Zari closed her eyes as well and let their lips touch. In an instant, sparks went through them. Zari pressed herself against Amaya and they truly kissed, with lips and tongue and passion. Amaya moaned into the kiss and Zari took it as a sign to keep going. She let her tongue slip in and explore Amaya's mouth.

When they took a break for air, Zari opened her eyes first. She looked at Amaya, who still had her eyes closed and was standing there with a blissful smile. Amaya blinked and continued to smile at Zari in a way that made her let out a sigh of content, as all of her pent up feelings became a reality.

But Amaya's face fell. She detangled herself from Zari and scooted an inch away. A distance that was more common among friends or acquaintances. Amaya dropped Zari's hand and her heart.

"I'm sorry, I can't," Amaya explained. "Things with Kuasa are too complicated. I can't be in a relationship right now when I'm still figuring out how to be a parent to her."

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you," Zari said, trying to busy her hands in her jacket pockets.

"Hey," Amaya said in a softer tone, reaching out and squeezing Zari's knee. "I... I liked kissing you and maybe once things settle down between Kuasa and I, we give this, you and me, a go."

"I'd like that," Zari whispered.

Amaya smiled at her and Zari felt that familiar longing coiled inside her. She could live with it, be patient and wait for Amaya. She would wait for an eternity.

* * *

"Eww," Behrad said, shaking his head and sticking his tongue, as he watched Zari and Amaya kissing. "Ugh, why do grown ups always have to do that? I'm never going to kiss anybody."

"It's not that bad," Kuasa said, but wrinkled her nose anyway.

"Yeah, well what if they get married? I don't want to be your brother. I already have one sister, I don't need another."

"We're not going to be siblings!" Kuasa exclaimed, then made up her mind. She marched towards Zari and Amaya where they were sitting apart and talking.

"Hey Kuasa," Amaya greeted her.

"Can we go home? Now!"

"Honey, what happened?" Amaya asked getting up and putting her hands on Kuasa's shoulders.

"I'm bored and cold."

Kuasa watched as Amaya sighed, but took off her own hat and pulled it over Kuasa's ears. "Alright, we can go home."

"Yeah, we should probably get going too," Zari said standing up from the bench.

Kuasa looked back at Behrad and Zari who both had similar looks of disappointment on their faces, but she couldn't understand why. Once she and Amaya were settled in the car, Amaya turned around to look at her before backing out of the parking lot. "Kuasa, did anything happen that made you want to leave the park? If something did, I want to know so I can fix it, honey."

Kuasa looked over at Zari and Behrad as they climbed into their car as well. Right now it was just her and Amaya and that's all she wanted it to be. "No, I'm just cold."

"Okay," Amaya said, looking over her shoulder as she pulled out of the parking space.

Kuasa watched as Zari gave Amaya a sad wave one Amaya quietly returned. Kuasa tightened her seat belt as the turned onto the road. She couldn't lose Amaya, she just couldn't.


	2. Lavender's Blue

Sara bounced from one foot to the other and rubbed her arms. It was an unusually cold day for early March in Star City, dropping below the average 40 degrees to 33 degrees. There was frost on the trees and the plants along the sidewalk of the apartment building when she saw Sin off on the school bus from the bakery that morning, although it had melted when the sun chose to shine that afternoon.

Sara checked her watch again, yep, the bus was late. A whole ten minutes late. She'd been pacing in and out of the small foyer to the steps and the sidewalk, before deciding to just stick it out on the curb. She could wait inside the entryway for the bus to pull up, but she felt the need to sit out on the sidewalk and freeze because she missed her kid that damn much.

It was Monday, so not her usual day off as the bakery and cafe was open on weekdays, but an entitled asshole had come in to pick up their online order of cupcakes and had insisted on a discount they didn't have. The role of kicking them out usually fell to Amaya and Sara, and Amaya was out delivering a wedding cake leaving Sara to deal with them alone. It didn't go well. It was one of the few times that she was thankful her dad was a cop. Quentin had dropped everything to rush over to the shop after that asshole got violent and took a swing at her.

After Amaya got back, she insisted Sara take the rest of the day off and go spend some time with Sin. Sara tried to switch with Kendra and pick up the kids, babysitting until four when they closed, but they all but pushed her out of the shop and told her to go home. Her plan was to take Sin to the skate park then, rent that new superhero movie, pop some popcorn, and settle in for a quiet night.

Finally, the yellow, number thirteen, Glades Elementary school bus turned up the street and stopped in front of her, the doors swinging open. Sara smiled as she saw Sin's black pants and matching converse at the top of the stairs, her little punk rocker. The bus driver Mona, stepped out of her seat behind them with her hand on Sin's shoulder. As she followed them down the stairs, Sara's smile fell when she saw Sin step off the bus.

Their usual happy face was somber, with red eyes that sparkled with tears. Their hands were straight at their sides and clenched into fists. Sara rushed to them, kneeling down to their level and placing her hands on their shoulders.

"Sin what happened?" Sara tried to keep her voice even, but her heart broke at the sight of them crying, and her mind rushed to the worst case scenario.

Sin didn't even look at her. Instead, they stared down at the ground then, they quickly brushed off Sara's hands and ran past her, up the stairs and into the apartment.

Sara stood up in disbelief and looked at Mona with pleading eyes. "What happened?"

"Some of the other kids were bullying Sin." Mona said, then quickly added. "I stopped it as soon as I noticed it happening and pulled the other kids to the front of the bus."

"Do you know what it was about?" Sara asked, still in disbelief. Nothing like this had ever happened before, not even when Sin had come out as non-binary over the summer.

"I'm not exactly sure, but the girls were calling them unintelligent. They used the R word. I radioed the school to let them know what happened and they'll probably want to meet with you tomorrow."

"Okay," Sara said. Still in disbelief, she started to turn away.

"Sin's a great kid, so I don't know what they're talking about," Mona said, giving her a small smile.

"Thank you," Sara said nodding, with a tight lipped smile of her own.

Mona let her go and she rushed up the stairs and into the apartment building, not bothering to take the elevator to the third floor. The apartment door was left swinging open in Sin's haste, and Sara quickly closed and locked it. She headed over to Sin's room and grabbed the tissue box along the way. The door was closed and Sara hesitated, knocked under the letters that spell out Sin's name, painted Black with silver spikes.

"I'm coming in," Sara announced when she heard no response and opened the door to see Sin sprawled out on their bed face down sobbing with their backpack and shoes still on.

"Oh baby," Sara sighed, walking forward and sitting on the bed next to them. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around them, backpack and all.

"They.. they called me stupid... and… and… dumb... and..." Sin said through tears, their voice shaking.

"I'm so sorry baby. They should've never said that to you. You didn't deserve that." Sara whispered in their ear.

"It's all her fault!" Sin yelled.

"Whose fault honey? Tell me, it's okay."

"Ms. Sharpe."

"What?" Sara was shocked at Sin's revelation. Although she had only met the 4th grade teacher a few times before on orientation night, parent's night, and stuff, she really seemed to care about her students. Sure she could be strict, but she was kind and Sin had always come home from school happy, going on about how great school was.

"Come here" Sara said, pulling Sin up. She wiped away their tears and slipped their backpack off, leaving it on the floor. "Why don't we grab some ice cream from the freezer and you can tell me the whole story, okay?"

"It's too cold," Sin whined.

"Then we'll make hot chocolate, with the big marshmallows."

"On the stove, like Papa Quentin makes?"

"Of course!"

Sin nodded and Sara pulled them up, carrying them out into the hall. Sin barely weighed 60lbs, but they weren't a toddler anymore. Sara specifically worked out just so she could still do this, even if the times she did had become few and far between.

Sara set them on the counter, then got to work pulling out the chocolate chips and the double boiler. They made the hot chocolate with extra big marshmallows and once they got settled on the couch with their favorite mugs, Sara waited for them to start.

"I didn't do my math homework from this weekend," Sin admitted with defeat. "I just don't like it, it's too hard!"

"Okay," Sara said, choosing to ignore the admission in favor of hearing the whole story.

"Well, Ms. Sharpe has this hour at the end of the day for us to work on homework and stuff, and she talked to me about it. She showed me how to do long division, but I just didn't get it. Then she said I would have to go to the special ed class, because I'm re…."

"Sin," Sara said softly stopping them there. "You are not the word that the kids on the school bus called you. Everyone struggles with math at some point. I know I did. You are capable of anything and we can figure this out together. I promise!"

Sin nodded, drawing strength from Sara and sitting up straighter. "Will I have to go to the special ed class?"

Sara knew her kid, and she knew that with a little extra help Sin could catch back up to her class.

"You will remain in your class with your friends and I'll try and work things out with your teacher." Sara assured them, "In the meantime, I'm gonna help you with your homework and we'll get it done together."

"Us against the world?" Sin asked with a smile.

"Us against the world," Sara said, matching their smile and holding out her fist. Sin enthusiastically fist bumps her, making the explosion noise afterwards.

* * *

Sara paced back and forth in the hall, holding her phone to her ear, waiting for Kendra to pick up. She caught Sin looking over at her from their spot at the kitchen table and sent them a smile and a thumbs up, before turning back to the dark green walls. She didn't know why their landlord wouldn't let her paint, even with the extra floor lamp Sara had squeezed in by the door, the dark hallway was never lit enough.

"Hey you," Kendra said, finally picking up and enthusiastically greeting Sara.

"Did you know that she has them doing long division with three digit numbers?" Sara whisper yelled into the phone.

"Umm," Kendra hesitated before Sara heard her yell at Carter. "Honey, is Hector doing three digit long division?"

Sara didn't hear his reply, but a second later Kendra gave her an answer. "Yes."

Sara sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Why didn't I start helping her out when it was just division?"

Kendra chuckled, "If it makes you feel better I can't do it either and I thought Laurel was helping Sin with their homework?"

"Yeah apparently they were telling Laurel that I was helping them, so they were giving both of us the runaround."

That night Laurel was planning to head out with friends so it would be just the two of them. Sara was hesitant to move in with her sister after she and Nyssa were forced apart two years ago, but Laurel helped her out a lot. She was always there for them. Sara tried to return the favor by doing more than her fair share of the housework and making sure Laurel didn't drown herself in work.

"Well at least you're helping them now," Kendra said, and Sara just shook her head.

"Not by much, It's been an hour and we're only halfway through this worksheet that was supposed to take twenty munites."

"Why don't you come over now and Carter can help you two get a hold of it?"

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver," Sara said, grabbing her coat and Sin's from their hooks. "We'll be there in five and can we come over tomorrow as well? I'll bring dinner."

"Yeah, sounds good. So what clued you into the fact that Sin was lying about who was helping them with their homework?"

Sara sighed, leaning up against the wall. "Sin came home in tears today after a couple of kids were bullying them on the bus. Apparently, they overheard Ms. Sharpe telling Sin they might need to go to the special ed room for math help."

"What? She said that?" Kendra said in disbelief.

"I know right! How dare she tell Sin that before even consulting with me!" Sara tried to keep her voice down, but she was just so angry. "I have a meeting with her tomorrow morning so I'll let you know how it goes."

"Okay, see you soon."

"Yeah, thanks again."

"No problem."

Sara hung up and then walked back into the kitchen. "Hey so I called Auntie Kendra and she said that we could come over and Uncle Carter is gonna help us get your homework done."

Sin nodded and gathered their papers in their backpack, Sara pulled on her coat and held out Sin's coat for them to put on. Sin ran out the door and down the hall pressing the button on the elevator as Sara locked the door behind them.

"Mom, how come I have other aunts and uncles?" Sin asked once Sara had joined them waiting for the elevator.

"What?" Sara asked, still thinking about that last math problem.

"You know like how Auntie Laurel is your sister, and Aunt Lisa was Dad's sister, but Auntie Kendra and Uncle Nate, they aren't related to us?"

"Well," Sara said, putting her arm around them and leading them onto the elevator. "Auntie Kendra, Uncle Mick, and the others became my family when I was in college and when I had you, they became your family too."

"Were they Dad's family too?" Sin asked.

Sara smiled, but she felt a familiar pain in her heart. Talking about Leonard, Sin's father and her then-boyfriend had gotten easier since he had died six years ago.

"Yes, your Dad and Uncle Mick used to get into all sorts of trouble."

"Really?"

"Yes, like there was this one time…"

* * *

Sara walked the halls of Sin's school with Sin by her side that morning. She felt confident as she went over what she was going to say to Ms. Sharpe in her head. The night before Carter had walked her through the steps on how to do long division. They were able to get the homework done in time to be in bed at a reasonable hour. Working with Carter had solidified Sara's belief that Sin just needed a little extra help.

Now all Sara had to do was talk to Ms. Sharpe and things would be taken care of. Sin could go back to class without being bothered and Sara could spend the rest of the day knowing her kid was happy and taken care of. Sara hesitated at the door to Sin's classroom, peering in the window to see that Ms. Sharpe was sitting at her desk. She had to be civil about this if she wanted it to go anywhere. She felt Sin squeeze her hand and looked down, so she gave them a smile and squeezed Sin's hand in return. Then she took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and plastered her fake customer service smile on her face.

Sara would never admit it but, she kind of had the hots for Ms. Sharpe. She was tall, with soft blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and an oval face that had soft features. Not usually Sara's type, but then again she never really considered herself to have a specific body type, she was bisexual. However, she did like people who were confident and passionate, if not a little wild. These days she just wanted someone who was kind and treated her and her child with respect.

"Hello, Ms. Sharpe, I'm Mrs. Lance, Sin's mother."

Ms. Sharpe stood up and straightened her white button up shirt and buttoned her suit jacket. "Mrs. Lance, a pleasure as always. I didn't know you were bringing Sin along."

"They are the reason we're here," Sara said, placing her hands on Sin's shoulders and leading them over to Ms. Sharpe's desk.

Ms. Sharpe gave her a tight smile, and Sara knew that most teachers prefered to have meetings without the children present, but nonetheless she gestured to the thankfully adult-sized chair in front of her desk. "Please have a seat, Mrs. Lance and then why don't you grab a chair as well Sin."

While Sin grabbed a chair from the nearest desk, Sara took a moment to look around the classroom. The morning sun peeked in through the blinds, casting its glow over the desks. They were pushed together in groups of four at the front of the classroom, facing the projector and white board. The side of the board listed the schedule, as well as the topics for that day's lessons. There had been talk of getting smart boards, but Sara knew it wasn't in the budget; regardless, Ms. Sharpe worked well with what she had. In the back she had child sized comfy chairs with a floor lamp that looks like the one they had in their apartment hallway surrounded by wooden bookshelves.

It wasn't like the classrooms of Sara's childhood, there were no bright colors or boards filled with the same kids projects, colorful maps and bright alphabets. Instead, there were lots of plants, succulents and other little house plants lined the shelves, there was one palm tree in the corner about halfway to the ceiling.

There was a large map of the U.S. in greens and browns, and a list of words were organized with magnets on the left whiteboard that Sara had seen some of the kids use many times. The other wall was filled with artwork and each child's abstract picture was unique with different colors, styles, and shapes. The way it was displayed on the wall was more alike to a parent putting their kids pictures on the fridge than an overt display of work. The only bright and colorful things were fish in the large tank at the back of the room. All in all, the classroom looked homey.

"Well, let's get right into it," Ms. Sharpe began, once they were both seated. "I've been informed that Sin was verbally assaulted by Cassandra Savage and Freydís Eriksson on the bus ride home yesterday. I've spoken with both the girl's parents and with the principal over the phone this morning and rest assured it will not happen again. I've moved Sin's desk away from the two girls and Mona has agreed to keep the kids separate while they're on the bus and when she's helping in the classroom. Going forward, I will be keeping an eye on the situation and I will not let it happen again under my watch."

"That's good," Sara said, letting go of some of the stress she had and partially relaxed back into the chair. "When can we expect an apology from the girls?"

"They will write an apology and present it to Sin this afternoon."

"They're gonna be at school today?" Sin asked, suddenly timid.

"I thought they'd get suspended?" Sara asked.

"That's not the school's policy. We believe in having the children face up to what they have done, with more appropriate methods, such as the apology letter and a true understanding of why what they did was wrong. Not a vacation from school. Kids like Cassandra and Freydís will benefit from being here more than at home."

"Having a tough home life doesn't excuse their behavior," Sara said.

"I'm not excusing it. I'm telling you why, and what I'm doing to try and help everyone."

Sara huffed. "That makes sense, but you really shouldn't be openly talking about your student's home life like that."

"I never said anything about..." Ms. Sharpe started, then paused and gave Sara a look like she wanted to continue, but instead, she took a deep breath and straightened her jacket again.

Sin tugged on Sara's arm and gave her a nervous look, "Mom do I have to go to the special ed classroom?"

Sara wrapped an arm around them and tugged their chair closer to her and whispered to them. "No, it'll be okay."

"You have nothing to fear Sin, this class is a safe place for you." Ms. Sharpe said, having assumed that was what they were whispering about.

"Yeah, about that," Sara started, taking a less than amused tone. "Yesterday Sin said that you wanted to place them in the special ed classroom after they struggled to finish the math assignment that you gave them."

"I said that…"

"Why would you say that without talking to me first?" Sara demanded.

"Let me explain."

"Oh please do!"

Ms. Sharpe looked away from Sara to Sin, who still sat at Sara's side, leaning into her and gripping her arm, while bouncing their leg.

"Sin, Miss. Nora is in the library setting up for today, I'd bet she'd love your help!" Ms. Sharpe offered.

Sin looked up at Sara, who just gave them a squeeze and turned back to Ms. Sharpe. "Anything you want to say to me you can say to Sin."

Ms. Sharpe took a deep breath before speaking. "I believe Sin may have Dyscalculia. It's a learning disability like Dyslexia, but it involves numbers rather than letters. It's characterized in children who have difficulty organizing and memorizing numbers and other math concepts, even telling time can be a struggle. I had a few examples of Sin's work that highlights these aspects if you'd like to see."

She held out some of the math work Sin had done and Sara took it from her and quickly glanced over. "I believe Sin would benefit from going over to the special education classroom or getting some extra math time with one of our Paraeducators like Mona, for the last hour of class and receiving some extra guidance in this area a few times a week."

"Sin doesn't have any learning disabilities."

"I know this is hard to hear."

"I know for sure!" Sara said. "After their father died, I took Sin to therapy to help them. The therapists noticed something just like you did and thought it would be wise to have her tested as well. We went through the whole process and nothing came of it. The school should know about it, Sin's teacher knew and we kept the school in the loop. What we did find was that Sin just started making more mistakes when they felt nervous. Which isn't so unusual for any kid."

At that point, Sara was surprised that Ms. Sharpe gave her a confused look. "I never saw or heard anything like that when I went over Sin's file at the start of the year."

"Well I'll have the paperwork sent over to you," Sara said, with more malice than was necessary.

"Well, I'd be happy to read it," Ms. Sharpe said, giving Sara every ounce of sass right back to her.

"Great."

"Great. I think we're done here," Ms. Sharpe said standing up and offering her hand to Sara.

Sara remained seated and she could feel Sin glanced over at her but there was one more thing she wanted from Ms. Sharpe.

"I believe you owe me and my child an apology, especially since your words were the reason Cassandra and Freya were bullying them." Sara said, raising an eyebrow at her.

Ms. Sharpe clenched her teeth, but nonetheless looked down. "I didn't know that's why they were bothering you Sin."

Her words were sincere, then she looked back up, looking them in the eye. "I am sorry for what I said to you in front of the other children. It should have been discussed in private."

"Thank you," Sin said, standing up and offering her hand for Ms. Sharpe to shake. Sara's eyes bugged out as they did so, they had done the mature thing and forgiven Ms. Sharpe.

"Of course," Ms. Sharpe replied with a smile that Sin returned.

Sara decided to do the right thing and shake Ms. Sharpe's hand as well. She stood up and went to leave with Sin.

"You could stay if you wanted to," Ms. Sharpe said. "I usually open up my classroom for the early kids right about now."

"We've still got a half hour or so and I figured we could play on the playground. That sound fun to you kiddo?" Sara said.

"Yeah," Sin said excitedly, grabbed her arm and raced ahead of her.

In the hallway Sara put her arm around Sin's shoulder, giving them a side hug.

"I'm really proud of you holding your hand out to shake your teacher's hand and accepting her apology. That's what I mean when I ask you to be the bigger person sometimes."

"Thanks Mom. I'm proud of you too, you stood up for me."

"I am always on your side," Sara said. Then she switched to her 'monster Mom' voice wrapping her arms around Sin and swiping them up in a hug. "Because I love you so freaking much."

"Mom," Sin complained, trying to sound angry at her. "You're ruining my hair."

"Right, sorry," Sara said, returning to her normal voice and setting them down.

Sara grabbed the compact mirror from Sin's backpack and held it up so they could fix their hair. Sin ran their fingers through it, styling their short black hair into a spiky swept back style. Their Uncle Nate had helped them cut it and learn to style it when they had first cut it short. Sara was grateful for friends in their lives who were there for both of them like family.

It was almost time for school and there were several kids in the hallways milling about and talking with other teachers and kids. Sara figured she could play on the playground with Sin for a few minutes before sending them back into the classroom. However, once they got outside, they hesitated instead of running towards the playground as they usually did.

"Mom, do I have to go to school today?"

Sara followed their line of sight to where Cassandra and Freydís were playing on the playground.

"I think we could take a mental health day and spend it at the skatepark if you wanted to?"

"Can we?" Sin asked in a way that made Sara's heartbreak as she heard the pain and need in her child's voice.

"Of course," she said, putting her arm around them again and leading them over to the car.

* * *

The second the door closed behind Sin and her mother, Ava slumped back into her chair. In her ten years of teaching, she had never had a parent come after her like that, although there were several who had been particularly terrible. Parents never wanted to hear about their child's potential disability or struggles in class. She wished they were more open about it, as they were only hurting the child they were so desperate to protect.

But maybe Ava was wrong, maybe Sin didn't have a disability like she thought. She sighed and looked over Sin's homework again, as she looked over the little mistakes the child had made. It could have simply been because they were stressed, or there could be something more to it. Honestly it could go either way, and Ava would have preferred to have a more professional opinion, but without Mrs. Lance's approval, she knew she would never get that answer.

Ava looked up at the clock on the wall. School wouldn't start for another hour and the majority of her early students wouldn't be there for a couple more minutes and they probably wouldn't mind hanging around in the halls or on the playground. She grabbed her keys and locked her room but, before she headed over to the library, she peeked in the classroom of her grade neighbor and brother, Nate Heywood, to check on her son Gary. She smiled when she saw him completely absorbed in one of his adventure books. Nate saw her and waved her in, but Ava declined with a shake of her head, not wanting to disturb Gary during his favorite pastime.

She turned around and headed down to the hall, quickly finding Nora among the shelves as she put away the books that had been returned the previous day. The library was mostly empty, save for a couple of students in the reading nook around the corner.

"Hey," Nora said when she saw Ava approach her.

"I just got the tongue lashing of a lifetime from one of my student's mothers," Ava whispered to her.

"Oh?" Nora said pausing. "What for?"

Ava looked around, all of the bookshelves were no taller than her rib cage and the other kids over at the reading nook could easily overhear them.

"Let's go to my office," Nora said, putting the book away and wheeling the cart down the aisle.

After being seated in one of Nora's comfy chairs, Nora brought Ava a cup of tea and waited for her to start.

"Okay, so I said something to one of my students about introducing them to Ray so they could get a little extra help understanding math. My plan was to have Ray drop by at the end of class if he had some extra time to give her a little extra tutoring, with their parent's consent, of course, but now that's never going to happen. And just to be clear that was all I said, nothing more, but everyone knows that Ray is one of the special ed teachers. So some of the other children in my class overheard what I said and on the bus ride home yesterday they started teasing this child."

"Oh that's terrible," Nora said, tilting her head. "But that's not your fault."

"I know!" Ava said, raising her voice a little, but it felt good to talk this through with Nora and get all her emotions out. "So this child goes home in tears and tells the parent that it's my fault because they thought I wanted to have them placed in the special ed classroom, which is something I would never do; it's much more helpful to have the kids stay in their own classrooms with their peers."

"Um hum," Nora nodded, having heard both Ray and Ava discuss the benefits of such on multiple occasions.

"So I got a phone call about what happened on the bus and I set up a meeting with the parent through the online appointment system the school has and they came this morning. We all sit down and at first, it goes great. I tell them how I'm handling the bullying and everything's going great until this mother insists that I apologize to their child for what I said. She won't even let me fully explain myself, she just insists that it's all my fault. So I just tried to explain why I wanted them to get some help from Ray, and I pulled up some of the child's work to try and show the parent that maybe their child should be tested for a learning disability. And the parent just goes off insisting that it's because the child just stressed about math, which I guess is a possibility, but I've been observing this kid for months I think they could really benefit from at least a little one-on-one time with either Ray or Mona."

"Did you get a chance to explain to the parent about all of this?" Nora asked.

"Oh no, she just got so defensive saying she already had her child tested, but that was years ago, things change, new things come to light. Anyway, I think what I'm going to do is just try and give this kid a little extra one-on-one time during my study hour at the end of the day. I'll just keep observing them and helping them and if things don't improve, I'll meet with the parent again at parent-teacher conferences in April."

Ava finally let out a breath and slumped back into her chair. "Thanks for letting me rant a little."

Nora giggled, "It was more like a lot, but I'm happy to listen."

"At least none of the kids are getting bulled for being queer," Ava said taking a sip of her tea for the first time. "I feel like I could handle that, I mean I am a trans woman and a lesbian, I've faced my fair share of homophobes."

Nora giggled, "Yeah I remember that time we were at the department store, buying clothes with Gary and that lady kept flowing us around and whispering, 'lesbians can't raise a son.' in that confused and angry tone and you just spun around and laid into her. I thought she'd die of embarrassment."

"Yeah, that felt pretty good." Ava looked up at the clock, realizing that she had fifteen minutes before school started. "I should get going."

Just then Mona peeked in like she usually did after she had parked her bus to the depot and returned to the school for her shift as Paraeducator. "Hey, I'm glad I caught you both, are we still on for book club tonight after school? Also, the secretary told me to tell you that Sin Lance won't be in class today. "

"Thanks Mona," Ava said. She should have known that Mrs. Lance would pull her out of class that morning, but she was glad that she at least had Sin's trust back and could help her student further.

She returned to her class after checking on Gary again to find several of her students waiting for her in the hall. They all greeted her with big smiles and happy hellos, and she gave them all hugs or high fives as she let them in the classroom, smiling as they all filtered in and went to their desks. This was why she got into teaching, because she loved watching all these little kids learn and grow, and the joy they admitted whenever they accomplished something, filling her with pride. Apart from being a mom, to her, it was the best job in the world.

* * *

Sara and Sin had rushed home to the apartment to grab their skateboard and head out to the skatepark. By the time they got there, all the high school students had left and they enjoyed the freedom of the empty skatepark. Sara had been riding a skateboard since middle school, and when Sin was three years old she put them on a board and her toddler had taken off. If it was up to them, they would have never gotten off.

After spending the morning going up and down the pipes and riding along the rails they grabbed some lunch at Big Belly Burger, calling Laurel beforehand and agreeing to meet her at Quentin's precinct.

"Papa!" Sin called out the moment they stepped off the elevator, running in between the cops and detectives towards Quentin's office. Most of her dad's coworkers were used to Sin's antics and just smiled as they ran past them.

Sara followed behind, choosing to walk through the bullpen and leaned up against the door to her Dad's office.

"Shouldn't you be in school, you rascal?" Quentin playfully asked as he had Sin wrapped up in a bear hug.

"Mom said I could take the day off and we went to the skatepark," Sin answered as they pulled back.

"Oh did she now?" Quentin asked looking up at Sara. "Hey kiddo."

"Hi Daddy," Sara said, walking over and leaning down to give him a hug as well as depositing the bags on his desk.

"Yeah, it's cuz Cassandra and Freydís were mean to me on the bus yesterday," Sin said quietly, looking down at their hands.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," he said, he still had his arms around Sin and gave them an extra squeeze.

"We worked it out with their teacher this morning," Sara said, sitting in one of the chairs across from him. "But they just didn't want to go back yet."

"Hey, hope I didn't miss much," Laurel said, appearing in the doorway and dropping her purse and herself into the chair next to Sara.

Sin immediately ran from her place at Quentin's side to hug Laurel, who gave them a tight squeeze.

"There's my favorite Niblet," Laurel said, using the gender-neutral nickname for Nibbling she had started using when Sin came out.

"Auntie Laurel, I'm your only Niblet."

"Yes, and therefore my favorite," Laurel said bopping their nose as they both giggled.

"You know ever since I had a kid, I always feel like you guys love them more than me," Sara said with a pout.

"That's not true," Quentin insisted.

"Yes it is," Laurel said, with a sly smile.

"Rude," Sara replied, waving her finger at Laurel.

"Be nice," Quentin said, while Sin just giggled. "You know for Christmas I think the only thing I'm going to ask for is for a whole day where my daughters don't fight."

"That's completely unrealistic," Sara said.

"Yeah that's not going to happen," Laurel added, before the two of them burst into laughter.

Quentin and Sin joined in laughing and they all dug into the burgers and fries Sara had brought.

* * *

"I don't want you to go to work tomorrow!" Sin whined as they stood at their desk in their classroom.

Sara took a deep breath, closed her eyes and counted to ten before responding to Sin. This was the argument that they had been having ever since Sara had told her yesterday that they would be opening the bakery and cafe on Saturdays.

"Saturday is our day!" Sin insisted.

Sara opened her eyes and kneeled down so that she was at Sin's level, putting her hands on their shoulders. "I know. I know you don't want me to go to work. I know you want me to just stay home and hang out with you all day long."

She poked their stomach trying to get them to giggle while using an exaggerated voice, but Sin didn't respond as they usually did. Sara tried to keep smiling, but she was at her wits end. They had been fighting all day yesterday, and this morning Sin had dug their heels in and wouldn't let the issue go. Sara thought that driving them to school and dropping them off herself would help so that they could spend some extra time together, but clearly it hadn't worked.

Sara looked around and spotted a glitter jar on one of the shelves. She quickly ran over and grabbed two, brought it back and handed one to Sin. "I know you're mad, so take all your anger, push it into the jar, and shake it out."

Sara shook up the jar as hard as she could, watching as Sin did the same. They shook the jars for a few moments and then Sin stopped to watch the glitter in the bottle spin around. After several minutes they looked up at Sara.

"Do you have to go to work Saturday?"

"I do kiddo, and I'll drop you off at Aunt Zari's around the time you would go to school in the morning, but before I leave we can try to go to the skate park."

Sin still looked disappointed and their face scrunched up, as they shook the jar again so hard Sara thought it would break.

"Do you know why?" Sara asked, just wishing she could take some of the hurt feelings away.

"No," Sin said, as they stopped shaking the bottle and continued to gaze into it. Like it held all the answers to their problems.

"Because your aunts and I are not just making pies and cakes, we're helping the Wedding Fairy," Sara said in an absolutely serious voice, it was a thing they said around the bakery quite often especially as of late, as it was an epithet for over the top brides and mothers. However to the kids the wedding fairy was very real.

"Really?" Sin asked, looking over at her.

"Yeah," Sara said with a smile on her. "You see, wedding fairy needs some extra help making some special treats for some special people, her kitchen is just too small to try and do it all this year."

It was partially true, they were swamped with June and May weddings and all the last minute wedding planners flooding them with orders. With the wedding season rush kicking into gear as spring approached and the bakery and cafe being so popular, they had to add an extra day to their schedule if they wanted to be able to take on the new orders. Amaya hated turning people away, especially if they were cute couples in love. It would only be until spring break and summer, and in an effort to avoid the insane cost of childcare, they were alternating Saturdays so that one of the four of them could watch the kids.

The business had always made just enough money for everyone to live comfortably. Amaya's hope was that with the extra orders, everyone would be able to splurge that year. Sara agreed to it because she wanted to be able to afford a good summer vacation for Sin. Of course, Sara didn't tell Sin any of this, as she didn't want them to worry about money.

"The wedding fairy isn't real."

Sara turned around to see Cassandra Savage standing next to them, but before she could say anything Ms. Sharpe approached them. "Yes she is and I'm sure she's very thankful to have Ms. Lances' help."

Cassandra sneered and looked like she was about to say something else but Ms. Sharpe led her away, talking to her on the other side of the room.

"Why can't I help the wedding fairy?" Sin asked, with curiosity rather than disappointment.

"You can! How about tonight you and I work on thank you cards for all of the orders!"

Sin thought it over and nodded. Sara sighed in relief and smiled, then leaned up and kissed Sin's forehead.

"Have I told you that I love you and that you're the best kid in the world?"

"Yeah, you say that every day," Sin teased, rolling their eyes.

"Well I mean it every day," Sara teased her back, then tucked a stray strand of hair behind their ear. "Are you going to be okay today?"

"Yeah," Sin said, with a somber nod.

"You want me to go or stay a little longer?" Sara asked, her eyebrows knitting together, she couldn't help but worry, especially when it came to Sin.

Sin looked around before answering, they still had a few minutes before class started and most of the kids were already there milling around. Sara looked around as well and saw Hector wave at them from his desk. They both smiled and waved back.

"You're picking me up today, right?"

"Yep."

"Okay," Sin said and then took off their backpack and walked over to talk to Hector.

Sara smiled and watched them for another minute before heading out. She stopped in the doorway, realizing that she was still holding the glitter bottle.

"You can take it if you want to," Ms. Sharpe said, catching her at the door. "I'm sure Sin would love to have one at home."

"Thanks," Sara said.

"I keep the bottles around for situations like this and I'm glad you were able to use them. You handled that really well," Ms. Sharpe replied.

"Thank you," Sara said, surprised at her genuine words. The two had been exchanging petty notes and words since their meeting a week before.

Ms. Sharpe gave her a genuine smile before turning back to her classroom. Sara took one last peek at Sin, who was laughing with Hector before leaving. She looked back over at Ms. Sharpe who was talking with one of the other students, maybe Sara had her pegged wrong, maybe she should give the teacher another chance.


	3. And Put it in the Oven for Baby and Me

**So the chapters were supposed to alternate between couples, but I need to put this chapter here to maintain the timeline in a way that will soon become apparent. And I was support to post this last week but forgot, sorry!**

**Also, this is the chapter with smut and if that's not your thing just skip to the end and read the second to last paragraph break.**

**Thanks to canaryatlaw and transspidermannn both on Tumblr for editing and beta reading this for me.**

* * *

Ava reluctantly followed Nora and Mona as they led her up the street to Jiwe's Bakery and Cafe that Saturday afternoon. She held onto her coat as she walked, surveying the old building. It looked to be mid-19th century but, in excellent condition, with all the classic features, a big front window, and a yellow and white awning. Although it wasn't the most popular place, Ava had heard it talked about throughout the city since she moved there five years ago.

"Remind me why we're doing this again," Ava asked, as they paused at the door.

"Oh come on Ava, you know why," Mona said, tugging on her arm. "Besides, I thought you'd love this place. They've got the best danishes!"

Ava sighed, but let Mona and Nora drag her through the door. She had to pause again, as she gasped and took the place in. It looked like it could have been her grandmother's kitchen, if Ava had a grandmother. While it was a small shop, it was decorated with comfy furniture and dark brown tables and chairs. There was soft jazz coming from a player piano near the back and classic paintings on yellow walls decorated the room. Ava looked around, even the display counter was classy and felt natural. It was classic and homey and definitely her style.

"Okay, it's not that bad," Ava admitted.

"Told ya," Nora said, as she walked over to get in line at the counter.

Ava scanned the room, catching the real reason why they were here. Ray Palmer sat in one of the chairs with Nate as they both talked with Amaya, the owner.

"Okay so this is the plan," Mona said, getting right into it, only to be interrupted by the line moving forward as it became their turn at the register.

"Hello and welcome to Jiwe's Bakery and Cafe. What can I get you started with?"

Ava recognized Zari Tomaz behind the counter, as she had Behrad in her class. They exchanged pleasantries and let Zari get on with her work as they all ordered coffee and pastries. Ava was surprised when she took a bite of the warm danish, closing her eyes to savor the delicious taste.

"Okay," Mona continued, once they were seated at one of the tables. "Nora and I will go up to them and talk about how we just happened to run into Nate and Ray. I'll pull Nate away with a conversation about the Star City Rockets and how they're doing this year."

"Are you sure you'll be able to do this?" Ava asked, trying to steal a glance at Nate and Ray. "Maybe we should just tell him about our plan."

"No, I did all the research beforehand, I'll definitely be able to distract him long enough for Nora and Ray to start a conversation and ask him out. I only need you to swoop in with the sister stuff in case I can't keep Nate distracted, which will ensure that Nora has long enough to talk with Ray and fall _in love_," Mona replied, flirting her eyelashes for effect.

"Are you sure about this?" Nora asked, looking over at Ray nervously.

"Of course," Mona insisted. "My plan is foolproof!"

* * *

Mona's plan was foolproof. Ava watched from her spot in line for another danish as Nora and Ray giggled and held hands, gazing into each other's eyes. It was pretty easy to get Nate away from them, even if he quickly figured out what was going on. Nate admitted that he knew Ray had a crush on Nora as well and agreed to help them. He was now over at the piano, playing a couple of tunes while Mona sang, leaving the sweethearts alone. Ava just smiled as she watched them. Nora's smile was so bright and genuine as she laughed at something Ray said.

"They're cute, aren't they?" Sara Lance's voice startled her, as she looked up to see her standing there with a towel over her shoulder at the register, nodding to Zari as she went on break.

"What are you doing here?" Ava asked, still staring at her.

"I work here," Sara said, casually gesturing to the shop around them.

"Oh," Ava said, remembering all of the things she had heard about the bakery and cafe over the past couple of years. "When Sin said for you were a business woman, I thought they meant you worked for a corporation or something."

Sara laughed. "Yeah, I can see how you'd think that. Sin grew up playing in my office in the back, as they and the other kids are mostly barred from the kitchen. I usually just handle the business side of things, but I help out where it's needed, and since Kendra's babysitting for everyone else, I get to play barista."

"Oh," Ava said, with a little nod still staring at her. "So Sin's here with the other kids?"

"No, Laurel's spending time with them today and the other kids are at Kendra's place. We only have them here when necessary. It just makes it easier for everyone. Do you want me to take that?" Sara asked, gesturing to her empty plate.

"Thanks," Ava said, remembering what she was there for and handing her the plate. "It was one of the best danishes I've ever had."

"I'll give Kendra your compliment," Sara easily smiled at her. "So do you want some tea or coffee?"

"Coffee would be nice, whatever's in the pot, and another danish please," Ava said, nodding her head too fast.

Sara smiled as she reached under the counter and pulled out a mug, then turned around to grab the pot of drip coffee to fill it up.

Ava found herself easily smiling back, all of the petty rudeness they had exchanged over the past few weeks somehow faded away.

"So do you, Nora, and Mona do this often then? Going out together, I mean," Sara said, giving Ava her coffee and danish, then putting her elbows on the counter and leaning over to talk to her. The shop was a bit busy, but everyone seemed settled in, and no one else came up to the counter, leaving Sara free to stand and talk with her.

"Yeah, we usually just stay in and have book club, but Nora has got the biggest crush on Ray and finally decided to do something about it."

"Yeah, I know. Ray likes her too and I'm glad everything worked out for them, they really like each other."

They both looked over to see Nora and Ray talking, and Ray rubbing his thumb over the back of Nora's hand.

"I bet they're married by the end of summer," Sara said, still staring at them.

"No way," Ava guffawed. "Nora's always wanted a December wedding. I give them at least until next year."

"At this rate, they're going to make it this year," Sara chuckled as they watched them start to make out.

They looked away and giggled like a pair of schoolgirls, and Ava began to wonder if she had Sara painted all wrong.

"I wanted to apologize for the things I said at the meeting we had earlier this month," Sara began, looking her in the eye. "Ray's been coming over and helping me and Sin with their homework. He thinks they might have that thing you were talking about."

"Dyscalculia."

"Yeah," Sara nodded, looking somber. "We're meeting with a specialist next Monday."

"I'm glad you're doing that," Ava said, taking a softer tone.

"Thank you," Sara said, quite genuinely soft in a way that surprised Ava.

Ava suddenly looked at Sara in a new light, and she took in the woman standing before her. Maybe it was the lighting, or the romantic atmosphere around them created by their friends, but Ava couldn't help but think that Sara was beautiful. There were freckles painted across her cheeks that were accented against her pink blush. Maybe it was the good food or how cute Sara looked when she smiled, but Ava found herself developing a crush, and blushing alongside her.

Before Ava knew what it, Sara had pulled up a chair next to her with a bit of paperwork she never got the chance to do, as they had talked the afternoon away. They also talked with Mona and Nate. They came by and sat with them for a while, but were now back at the piano. They had played Piano Man more than a dozen times, but were now playing simple tunes. Apparently, Sara had already met her brother, as they had been friends in college, and Ava was surprised she and Sara had never met before, with the many mutual friends they had.

It was still early evening, but Nora had come over and said she was leaving with Ray. As they watch them go, Sara said "I still say it's gonna happen this summer. I don't think they'll want to wait that long."

"No way, they'll definitely wait at least a year. This is literally their first date, no one gets married within a few months of dating," Ava said, having set her mind on it.

"I don't know," Sara said. "They've been friends for nearly two years, they know each other well enough that it could happen."

"No, no, no," Ava shook her head. "They're both way too smart for that."

"You want to bet on it?"

"Yes."

Seeing that Ava was sure, Sara nodded her head and set down the rag on the counter. "Just so you know, I've never lost a bet."

"I find that hard to believe," Ava said, with an eye roll.

"Okay," Sara said, crossing her arms. "I'll prove it, I bet my boss Amaya and coworker Zari are making out in the back right now."

"No way, they said they were going into the back to take stock," Ava said. Zari and Amaya had both come over a few minutes ago and told Sara that was what they were doing. "I would know, I'm a great lie detector. I do it all the time with the kids in my classroom."

"Kids lying and adults lying are two very different types of lying, and Amaya and Zari were both definitely lying," Sara said, sure of her words.

"Fine, I'll take that action," Ava said, determined to prove her wrong.

"Okay so first off, terms and conditions. What do you want if you win?"

Ava thought it over, trying to think of something reasonable. She could always go with money, but there was something else that interested her just as much. "Two free danishes for next time I come in."

"Great, if I win you pay double next time," Sara said with a smile.

"Sounds good," Ava said, shaking Sara's hand over it.

They both got up, and Sara led her down the hall. They passed a door that Ava assumed was her office. They continued past the bathrooms, to a door and a staircase that led down to the stockroom.

The light was off, and they got halfway down the stairs when Sara reached out and pulled a string, illuminating the stock shelves of flour and other baking materials. Lo and behold, there were Zari and Amaya aggressively making out against the stocks shelves.

As hard as they were going at it, Ava was thankful that they both had their hands over each other's clothes. It took Zari and Amaya a second to realize that they had been caught, and they both looked up at them in shock, then jumped three feet apart.

"Are you two going to go upstairs and help me close, or just stay down here and defile our stockroom?"

"We were just leaving," Amaya said, while blushing and looking anywhere but their eyes, while Zari tried and failed to hide a smirk, not looking bashful at all.

Sara gave them one hard look before they scampered up the stairs. As soon as they closed the door, back in the hall Sara and Ava just looked at each other and burst out laughing. Ava handed her the twenty dollar bill, which would more than cover the double plate of danishes. She didn't have to pay until she came back, but she wanted Sara to know she was good for it.

Sara took the money, and they continued laughing as they walked upstairs.

"Why don't I grab my keys and wallet, and I'll walk you and Mona to your car."

"Actually we took an uber here."

"All the more reason for me to drive you home," Sara said.

* * *

Sara opened the door to her office and walked in. It was a good sized room, with space for Sara's desk and two chairs in front of it, set up for client meetings as well as space for Zari's desk. Against the other wall, there was a table for kids next to a two person couch, set up across from a TV they kept tucked away in the cabinet. It was professional, but with four kids, and the fact that neither she nor Zari were particularly clean, it was always messy and unorganized. Sara usually didn't mind, but for some reason, she felt the need to move a few things around as she showed Ava in. Ava followed her and looked around, as Sara grabbed her things from the top drawer of her desk.

"You don't have to do that. You've had a long shift and I'm sure you'll want to get home and get Sin from Kendra's."

"Since Laurel is watching them today, and she won't mind if I'm late," Sara said, waving her off. "After we moved in together, Laurel said she'd happily watch Sin for the few hours here and there, and Sin loves their Auntie-Nibblet time together, so it all works out. Since it's a Saturday, they're probably both snuggling on the couch with bowls of ice cream, playing some video game."

Ava laughed at the thought, "Yeah, my son and his babysitter are probably watching Magic documentaries, or still at the magic shop. He loves going there and seeing all the stuff. I don't really get it, but he loves it, so I try and learn too."

"That's sweet," Sara said. "I didn't know you had a son."

"Gary, yeah," Ava said, looking down at the bracelet he made her. "He's Sin's age actually. He's in Nate's class and is obsessed with magic."

"Sin had a brief magic stage, inspired by our friend Constantine."

"Yeah, Gary loves him, we're at his shop at least once a week, which is as much as I can stand," Ava insisted, making a face.

"Not a fan."

"No."

Sara laughed and looked into the kitchen, waving to Amaya before she shut the blinds.

"Is it tough? working Saturdays I mean?" Ava asked.

"Kind of, I miss spending time with Sin and doing other things, but it's been worth it financially, and it's brought in new business. I know Amaya, Zari, and Kendra feel the same, but I don't think we'll continue it after school gets out. I just feel lucky that Amaya is so understanding, now that she's got Kuasa all four of us have a kid so we all take turns leaving early to pick up and watch the kids until closing. Although I'm a single parent, it doesn't feel like it, because we all raise the kids together and are so involved in each other's lives. Not to mention the fact that I don't have to worry about the financial burden of having a nanny or doing daycare," Sara said, then looked down at her hands and blushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go on and on."

"No, it's okay," Ava said, reaching out and taking her hand. "I'm a single parent too. My mom, well my unofficial adopted mom, Dot, you might know her, she's Nate's mom. Well, she came to visit when my ex left and later moved closer so she could watch Gary after my parental leave was up. I don't think I could have raised him without her. Nowadays, she sometimes picks him up after school, or he just hangs out in one of our classrooms and sometimes helps out with little things. It's not for very long, so it all works out."

"Yeah, Sin's Dad died when they were four, and if it wasn't for my friends and family I wouldn't have been able to do it either. These guys, my parents, my sister, his sister, and our friends were always around to help out too, and I did get into a new relationship pretty quickly. My ex-girlfriend was kinda like a second mom to Sin. So I felt pretty lucky."

Ava nodded somberly, having heard some of it from the child themselves. "Sin told me their Dad was an engineer."

"Yeah Len, he um, he died in a car crash along the coast. He was taking me on a trip for our anniversary. It was the first trip we had been on since Sin was born."

"I'm sorry to hear that. My ex-wife decided she didn't want to be a parent after we had Gary and took off. It was tough, as I'm sure you know. I'm glad that I had a family that was there for me as well, even if at the end of the day it was just the two of us."

"Yeah I get that," Sara said, smiling.

It had been like this all day. They just talked and talked, about anything and everything. Being Sin's teacher, it felt like she had already partially known Sara through Sin. Perhaps it was just that, but Ava was open with her throughout their conversations, and Sara found herself opening up as well. She talked about things with Ava that she would have never opened up about with anyone else unless she had already known them for a long time.

"Is that a Rembrandt?" Ava asked, looking over at the painting behind her.

"It's a copy, but yes. The old building owner gifted it to me before he left. He's now the superintendent of the school district here in the Glades."

"Rip used to own this place?" Ava asked, looking back at her. "He recruited me from my old teaching job in Fresno to be a teacher here after Gary was born."

"Small world," Sara said, surprised at the number of mutual friends they had. "We started out as partners with him, but he sold everything to Amaya years ago after the business took off."

"No kidding," Ava said, with a smile that made Sara sigh.

Sara looked at Ava standing there in her office. Rather than the usual suit and white button up she had worn every time Sara had seen her in the school, Ava wore a blue, fitted sweater and casual, but dressy plaid grey pants. The sweater outlined the muscles of Ava's arm and was pulled tightly over her breast. Sara looked down at the muscles of her abdomen and absentmindedly licked her lips.

Ava must have been thinking something similar because she took a step forward, looking Sara up and down. Sara looked down at her regular old white button up, black pants and the waitress's apron she wore today with her notebook, and the sparkly pen Sin had given her for Mother's Day.

Sara looked up and met Ava's eyes, taking a step forward until they were just inches apart. She really shouldn't be doing this. Ava was Sin's teacher, but all Sara could think about was finding out what Ava looked like underneath the blue sweater she wore. Ava tested the waters with her, closing her eyes and leaned in to touch her lips to Sara's. Ava's lips were sweet and soft, and Sara melted against her, running her fingers into the hair at the base of Ava's head and wrapping her other arm around Ava's waist.

Ava moaned and kissed her harder, slipping her tongue into Sara's mouth, pressing up against her and pushing her back to the desk. Sara let her take the lead, but pushed Ava's tongue back so she could explore Ava's mouth. Sara was sure she wanted this. Wanted Ava. Besides, chances were nothing would come of it. Sara could get Ava out of her system, and they could get out all that tension that had built up over the past month with a good fuck.

Sara reached back and pushed the papers off of her messy desk, as Ava lifted her up and sat her on it. There was a moment where they stopped kissing and stared at each other. They could stop now and leave it at that, but Ava didn't remove her hands from Sara's waist.

Ava leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Do you want me, baby?"

"Yes," Sara breathed out, kissing Ava's neck.

Sara reached down to the hem of her shirt, not bothering to unbutton it, just pulling it over her head and revealing herself to Ava. Ava took her in with wide eyes. Sara had forgone a bra that day, and the arousal of their kiss made her nipples stand up.

Sara smirked at Ava's expression. Her breasts had changed a lot since she got pregnant with Sin, and although she expected it, it was hard to watch them shrink when Sin was old enough to stop breastfeeding, and when she started working out again. Now, she was happy with her body, and the fact that she could still make anyone swoon by taking off her top was a bonus. Especially as she usually stuck to one night stands these days.

Ava let her hands run up Sara's sides to cup her breast, her fingers running along Sara's stretch marks, Ava moved to hold them and ran her thumbs over Sara's nipples. Sara pushed her chest out further and moaned, signaling Ava to continue. She let her own hands find their way to Ava's belt. Ava's sweater was tucked into her pants, and Sara let her fingers find her belt buckle and undo it.

"Wait," Ava said suddenly, letting go of Sara's breasts. "There's something you should know."

Sara paused, and Ava took a step back, looking nervous, but Sara waited patiently for her to make a decision about what she wanted to do next.

"I don't usually do this, so it hasn't really been an issue, but, um, well, do you have any condoms?"

"Yeah plenty, dams and stuff too," Sara said nonchalantly; she figured they would use protection and didn't care if Ava had anything, so long as she told her and was willing to use protection.

"Good, because we're going to need them." Ava took a deep breath. "I'm trans. I have a penis, and I just switched from hormone pills to the patch, and I've had trouble with the dosage so I've started to produce semen, and I'd like to be safe."

"Okay," Sara said softly, with a smile, trying to put Ava at ease. Sara reached back over to her desk, pulled open the drawer on the left, and grabbed a pack of condoms before handing them over to Ava.

"Okay," Ava said. She let out of breath and seemed more at ease, she smiled and kissed Sara again.

"And just so we're clear, I'm clean," Sara said.

"I'm clean too," Ava replied, before pulling off her sweater.

Sara smiled at what she found underneath. Ava's breasts were perfect, and they heaved with her chest as she breathed. Sara reached behind Ava to undo her bra, setting her breast free. The blue bra slipped off her shoulders, and then it was Sara's turn to be in awe of Ava. She leaned forward and looked up at Ava from between her breasts.

"Can I taste them?"

Ava just nodded, and Sara looked back to the pink areolas and wrapped her lips around the left one. Ava's breasts were more pointed, and of course her nipples and areolas were smaller, but that didn't make Sara enjoy them any less. She licked her way from the left to the right. When she was satisfied that she had paid attention enough to each breast, Sara pulled back.

Sara reached behind herself and undid the strings of her apron, pulling it off and setting it aside. Ava got the hint and reached for the button of Sara's jeans. Sara put both of her hands on her desk behind her and lifted her hips so that Ava could drag her pants and underwear down her legs. She was thankful that she had worn the black sports panties, rather than the off-pink pair that had one too many holes and bloodstains, but were insanely comfortable. Not that Ava paid much attention to it, just leaving both items in a pile on the floor.

Sara quickly kicked off her boots and Ava took a step back, then reached for her own pants. At first, she took off her belt and placed it on the chair Sara had for guests and clients, as they often met with couples for wedding cakes in here, then toed off both of her boots and placed them next to the chair as well. She picked up her sweater and gently folded it, before finally taking off her pants and folding them as well. The action made Sara smile.

When Ava turned around, she was just wearing a pair of tighty whities, and Sara could see her penis press out against the front of her underwear. Sara took a moment to take Ava in. She was tall and lengthy, and thin but muscular. Her arms and legs seem to never end. Her face was oval and slim, like her body with her soft features. Sara thought she was breathtaking.

Sara reached for her, but Ava stood just past her fingertips. Ava took a step forward, and Sara placed her hands on Ava's hips and stuck her thumbs in the waistband of Ava's underwear. Sara looked up at her and waited for Ava to give her the okay to continue. Ava nodded, and Sara slowly pulled the underwear down. Ava's penis stood half hard, uncircumcised, long and thin like the rest of her body.

"It's not much," Ava said, looking down at her.

"Are you kidding me?" Sara said not taking her eyes off of it. "Whoever made you believe that is an idiot."

"Well, when I started estrogen and t-blockers my doctor told me it could shrink and it did a little bit, and it's a use it or lose it kinda thing, and I've never really minded having a penis, so I've tried to keep using it. That's kinda why I switched dosages on the patch, so that I can have more sexual function…" Ava trailed off as Sara ran her fingers over her shaft with a feather touch.

Ava closed her eyes, thrusted forward and moaned. Sara smiled at how sensitive she was and grasped her hips, pushing her back, and Sara got down and dropped to her knees. She took the pack of condoms from Ava's hand and ripped open the first one, unrolling over Ava's shaft, before leaning in.

"Sara."

"Humm?" Sara murmured and hesitated, but was unable to take her eyes off of her.

"You don't have to do this."

"I want to do this," Sara said, looking back up at her. "Do you want me to do this?"

All Ava could do was nod, and with that Sara stuck out her tongue and licked her way up Ava's shaft.

Sara swirled her tongue around Ava's head and licked down her length, then she held Ava's shaft up so she could suck on Ava's balls. Ava held still for most of the time, but when Sara wrapped her lips around her length, taking Ava fully in her mouth, Ava's hips jumped forward. Ava poked the back of Sara's throat and caused her to choke.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," Ava said, pulling out of Sara's mouth.

Sara laughed, "No it's okay, it's not the first time it's accidentally happened. I just wasn't expecting it."

Ava nodded and held still, as Sara tried again and sucked Ava into her mouth. Ava let out a shaky breath, and Sara took her further down, letting herself get used to the feeling. Sara opened her throat and took Ava in all the way down, then Sara looked up at Ava. It was hard to see her from this angle, but Sara could see her head thrown back.

Sara moved back, letting Ava's length slide most of the way out of her mouth, and then took her back down again. Ava moaned and threaded her fingers into Sara's hair, but she just held her, not pushing her head forward or back. Sara continued to bob her head up and down, sucking Ava in every time. Sara reaches down and cupped Ava's balls, massaging them. Ava moaned and panted.

"Sara," Ava pleaded.

Sara continued her actions, sucking and moving. Ava's hips rolled, and Sara moved with her. Then, Ava pulled back and Sara was forced to let her go.

"Come here," Ava said, pulling her up and kissing her again. Ava held Sara's hips and guided her back to sit on the desk.

Ava lifted her up and set her on the desk, and Sara spread her legs wide, bringing both of her feet up on the desk, next to her hips. Ava ran her hands down from Sara's knees to her inner thigh. When she got to the mop of blonde curls between Sara's legs, she gently ran her fingers through the hair before parting Sara's labia and running a finger over her clit.

Ava gently took two fingers and explored Sara's vulva. Ava ran them up and down in between Sara's pink lips. Sara was completely soaking Ava's fingers, as Ava collected her wetness. Soon, Ava's fingers zeroed in on Sara's clit, running over it in quick hard circles.

"Fuck, Ava," Sara moans out, letting her head drop back.

It just felt so good, and Sara was more worked up than she realized. Ava definitely knew her way around and worked Sara so good that before she knew it, she was cumming and gushing all over Ava's fingers.

Ava pulled away, but Sara pulled her back, grabbing her hips and pulling her forward. She grabbed ahold of Ava's penis and pulled it towards her center. Sara wrapped her legs around Ava and looked down to guide her in.

Ava went slow at first, letting Sara adjust to the feeling of Ava filling her, slowly inching forward until she was completely inside of Sara.

"God, it feels so good to be full," Sara said, the words slipping off her tongue.

Ava immediately got to work and set a good pace, as she started moving back and forth. Sara let herself go and got caught up in the pleasure, as Ava hit that spot in her that made her go wild.

Sara threw her head back and couldn't help the loud moan that she let loose. Ava's movements have her on cloud nine, as Ava moved her hips, thrusting back and forth. Sara clenched around Ava, causing her to gasp and move wildly. Ava held both sides of her hips as she rocked back and forth. Ava moaned as she moved forward to capture Sara in a kiss, though they had to part as they both started to breathe heavily.

Ava leaned forward, letting go of Sara's hips as she snaked her arm around to hold Sara's back, and slammed her other hand on Sara's desk to hold herself up. Sara wrapped one arm around Ava and leaned into her shoulder, letting her lips linger against her skin.

Ava started to pant and Sara could tell she was close by the way her hips rolled erratically. Ava moved her hand from Sara's hip to sneak between their bodies. Ava adjusted her angle and pressed two fingers to Sara's clit. Sara would swear if she could talk. Ava rubbed her fingers across her clit at just the right force and consistency.

"I'm gonna cum," Sara breathed out.

"Me too."

Ava just went faster, thrusting her hips and rubbing Sara's clit. It was too much. Sara came, hard. She almost screamed Ava's name and buried her head in Ava's shoulder to muffle her cry. Sara's walls contracted as her orgasm ran over her, and she felt Ava cum as well.

Ava's thrusts slowed, losing speed and strength. Ava removed her hand from Sara's oversensitive clit and held her. Ava tried to remove her hand from the desk, but it stuck to the leather folder Sara kept the wedding cake pictures in. It slowly came off of Ava's hand, pulling at her skin as she ripped it off. Once she removed her hand, she just held Sara, rubbing her back and letting Sara rest her head on her shoulder.

"That was great, thank you," Sara whispered. She buried her nose in Ava's hair, enjoying her soft and sweet scent.

"Thank you, too," Ava said with a laugh.

Sara chuckled and Ava pulled back a little bit. She looked at Sara, both in that soft afterglow. Their smiles came easy and lazy across their lips. Ava pulled out and Sara sighed at the loss.

* * *

By the time they got their clothes back on, grabbed Sara's things, cleaned up her desk, and locked up her office, the shop was completely shut down. The only lights on were those behind the counter and the setting sun streaming in through the front windows. Everyone else had left, except for Mona who sat at one of the tables alongside Kendra.

"Ava, there you are," Mona said in a soft sweet voice, clearly indicating that she knew what had gone on.

"Sorry to keep you, Kendra," Sara said as she approached their table, placing her hand on Kendra's shoulders.

"I would have locked up but this woman said she was waiting for her friend," Kendra said with a knowing smile.

"I knew you were around here somewhere, and I saw you wander off with Sara a while ago," Mona said with an over enthusiastic wink.

"No, that's not what happened," Ava stammered, wanting to keep her sex life to herself.

"I was just giving her the full tour," Sara said, in an equally unbelievable tone.

"Then why is Ava's sweater on backwards?" Kendra asked.

Ava quickly looked down at her sweater, pulling at the collar to reveal the tag, indicating that it was indeed on backward.

"Okay, time to go," Sara said, ushering them up.

All four of them walked out of the bakery, and Sara locked up behind them. Kendra walked with Sara over to her car, as Sara opened the door for Ava and Mona, whom Sara had agreed to drive home.

"Goodnight Sara, I hope you had fun today," Kendra sang, as she got in her car.

Sara shook her head and got in her car. She pulled out of the alleyway, heading in the direction Ava had given her. Things were quiet as Sara quickly made it over to Ava's place. She tried to hide her surprise as they pulled into one of the nicest neighborhoods in Star City. It was a few more turns around the streets, before they pulled up to a modern two story home.

"Thanks for driving us here," Ava said, as Mona got out ahead of her, leaving them alone. "I know it's kind of out of your way."

"No problem," Sara said, waving her off.

"I had fun today," Ava said, smiling softly.

"Me too," Sara said, before casually adding. "You should come by more often."

"If things work out between Ray and Nora, I'm sure I'll be seeing you, Ms. Lance."

"Oh, you can count on it, Ms. Sharpe."

Sara nervously drummed her fingers against her steering wheel, like she was dropping her date off after the first time, which she supposed she was.

"Goodnight, Sara."

"Goodnight, Ava."

With that, Ava closed Sara's door and walked up the steps to her house. Ava waved to Mona as she got in her own car and drove off. Sara made sure she got inside, and Ava waved to her before shutting her front door. Sara found herself smiling on the drive home and all the way up to her apartment. She quietly let herself in like she always did. Sure enough, Sin and Laurel were on the couch, playing video games and yelling at the TV.

Sin jumped up when they finally heard Sara and wrapped their arms around her waist. Sara knew one day her kid wouldn't jump for joy when she came home. So for now, Sara just hugged them back and enjoyed this moment.

* * *

Ava would never admit it, but this had become a routine. Going to Jiwe's with Nora and Mona on Saturdays, and sometimes stopping in with Gary after school, where they would sit and talk with the group. Sara would come over and talk as well, although she occasionally got pulled away to her duties. Ava, Nora, and Mona were becoming regulars. Ava got to know Ray more so than she did at work, in fact, Ava got to know all of the staff, and she watched as Zari and Amaya tried and failed to hide their relationship.

Although, she would never admit that her thing with Sara had also become routine. The talking and occasionally flirting with her was how it always started out. With Sara across from her at the counter, with that sweet smile Sara had just for her. They would talk until the day ended, then go back to Sara's office or car, they even got a hotel once, and had sex. However, it wasn't just sex.

They weren't dating, per se, moreso friends with benefits was what Ava chose to call it, because there was something there. Something that certainly could turn into a relationship if they gave it a chance, but they danced around that line because neither one was willing to cross it. Ava wanted to remain professional, Sin was still her student and she wasn't going to jeopardize that just so she could continue to see Sara. So this is where they were at. With Ava coming over to the bakery and them flirting and sleeping together, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't there just to see Sara.


	4. The Land of Milk and Honey

Zari sat on the floor of the gym and grabbed a handful of glitter and gently sprinkled it over the two foot wide giant wooden flower she had just finished painting. After generously coating the red and pink flower, she dropped the rest of the glitter into the plate next to her and looked down at her finished work. Art had never been her strong suit, as Zari preferred to play in the computer lab. However, the flowers did look pretty good, and it matched the little drawing Mrs. Heywood had given her.

She placed it next to the other finished flowers of various colors and looked over to the other stack of wooden flowers placed to her right. Four down, six to go. Zari sighed as she placed another one in front of her and looked up at the clock. It's almost noon, meaning she's going to spend the rest of the day finishing the flowers. She looked over at Amaya who was busy painting the trees and had made more progress than Zari had.

Amaya caught her eye and gave her a smile before returning to her work. Zari easily smiled back at her. After their conversation at the park, things had not gone further physically between the two of them, but they had talked and exchanged so many stolen glances and secret smiles that Zari felt like she was dating Amaya, even if they only kissed.

"And a one, two, three, four," Mrs. Heywood sang from her spot at the piano, as she instructed the class standing on the risers on stage.

Zari looked over at all of the kids as they started off singing a rain song, and caught Behrad gently shaking a wooden stick of bells. She listened to them merrily sing for a second before she turned back to her painting. Behrad had never had a strong voice, probably due to the fact that he's rather shy and soft-spoken, so Mrs. Heywood had him holding the bell. A special job to help just for the shy kids. Zari had the same job at his age. Yet he smiled and sang along, looking happy.

The song dropped off as a few of the other kids holding wooden instruments made a rain sound, and she watched in anticipation for Behrad's turn to shake the bells. Instead, she watched as he tripped on air and fumbled the bells, dropping them into the row of kids in front of him.

"Please be careful, Mr. Tomaz," Mrs. Heywood kindly asked.

"It wasn't me, it was Cassandra, she pushed me," Behrad said, turning around to glare at her.

"I did not," Cassandra said, sticking out her tongue at him.

"We keep our hands and tongues to ourselves," Mrs. Heywood said, before Zari could look over to them. Mrs. Heywood had always been good and kind, even from the times Zari remembered having her as her music teacher. She knew Mrs. Heywood would handle it. "Alright let's start from the beginning. And a one, two, three, go."

They started back up again, but this time Zari watched Cassandra. Sure enough, after the rain stick, Zari watched as Cassandra pushed Behrad. This time it sent him sprawling forward as he fell over onto the stage.

Zari couldn't believe what she just witnessed as she ran up to the stage. She didn't bother to take the stairs, just jumping up to the platform and ran over to him

Mrs. Heywood reached Behrad before she did, and helped him up to sit up, looking him over. The rest of the class had fallen into a fit of giggles that only made Zari more angry.

"Miss Savage, please go sit over there," Mrs. Heywood said pointing to a seat in the wings of the stage.

"But I didn't do anything," Cassandra said, putting her hands on her hips and setting in her stance.

"I saw you push him," Zari said as she reached them and kneeled down to Behrad.

Zari quickly looked him over and held his hands, inspecting the cut on his hand from the chair in front of him. It was bleeding a little, but it just needed a band-aid. Zari looked up to see Behrad's eyes spill over with tears.

The tears only made the teasing worse, as the children noticed him crying, and Cassandra and Freydís began to taunt him further. Zari was so angry she felt like she could just slap all of those kids, but knew that that wouldn't be right, so she just closed her eyes and pulled Behrad in for a hug.

As always, Mrs. Heywood was on top of it. "That is enough from all of you. Sit down on the risers and hand in your instruments. This behavior is unacceptable, and if it continues you will not be allowed to sing in the spring choir."

All the kids quickly shut up and sat down, but Behrad pushed her away. "Stop, I'm not a baby!"

"Yes you are. Cry baby, cry baby," Cassandra and Freydís continued to taunt him.

Zari didn't even have time to react before Behrad was turning towards her with a look of anger across his face that she had never seen. He quickly stood up, turned around, and punched Cassandra square in the jaw, sending her falling back against the other kids.

Zari immediately rushed to pull him back, as Amaya and Mrs. Heywood rushed to Cassandra, who was now crying on the floor.

"Behrad, what were you thinking? You can't hit people!" Zari said, holding his shoulders and forcing him to turn and look at her.

"She deserved it. She's an asshole."

Mrs. Heywood and Amaya both looked at him in shock. That kind of language surprised Zari and everyone else around them.

Mrs. Heywood took a deep breath and looked over at both of the children. "Behrad, you shouldn't have punched her, but Cassandra, you shouldn't have pushed Behrad and taunted him in such a way. This behavior is unacceptable, and I have no choice but to send you both to the principal's office."

"Wait Mrs. Heywood, that's not necessary," Zari pleaded, knowing the outcome that would happen if Principal Darhk got involved.

"I'm sorry Ms. Tomaz, but I must involve the principal in all cases of violence between students." Mrs. Heywood put a hand on Zari's shoulders. "It's alright. I'm sure he'll take into consideration Cassandra's behavior. I doubt either child will get more than a detention."

* * *

Unfortunately for Zari, Principal Darhk took Cassandra's side after her father Vandal Savage was called in. How could Vandal Savage's precious little angel do such a thing, while Zari's troubled brother flatout punched her in front of the whole class. As soon as the word suspension came out of Darhk's mouth, Zari didn't hear anything else. It all seemed to blur together until Zari stepped out of the office.

Amaya was waiting out in the hall with Behrad, and she stood up the moment she saw Zari coming. "What happened?"

"Behrad's been suspended for the rest of the week."

"What?" They both looked up at her.

"Come on buddy, let's go home," Zari said. He looked as defeated as she was, and merely collected his backpack and walked with her towards the car.

"I'm really sorry Zari," Amaya said, standing next to them as she grabbed Zari's hand, forcing her to stop. "I wish there was something I could do about it."

"Well there's not, this whole school is run by that- " Zari caught herself before she swore, knowing exactly how Behrad had learned that word. Zari hated that her anger had gotten the better of her and took a deep breath, trying to let go.

"Go get in the car, okay?" Zari said to Behrad, handing him her keys. Turning back to Amaya, she said "It's not right. He takes the side of those kids because all of their parents are friends and they just let their kids act however they want. Then they go and suspend my kid after he stands up for himself. How is he ever going to have enough self-confidence now?"

"You can talk with the teachers." Amaya offered, putting her arm around Zari. "Mrs. Heywood won't let this happen again, and Sara said things have been better with Sin since she talked to Ms. Sharpe."

Zari shook her head, but leaned into Amaya's side. "I can't think of that right now. All I can think about is Behrad."

"Hey," Amaya said, getting Zari to look at her for the first time. Zari could see the genuine worry woven into her features as Amaya pulled her in for a quick hug. Zari let go of all of her anger and just hugged Amaya, feeling her warmth surround her.

"Thank you," Zari said into Amaya's ear.

Amaya pulled back and just smiled, holding her shoulders. "Of course."

They stared into each other's eyes, and all Zari could think about was how much she wanted to kiss her. However, before she could even attempt it, Behrad yelled at her from across the parking lot.

"Zari, lets go!"

She turned to see him sticking his head out the window of the car, waving at her.

"Go home," Amaya said.

"Are you telling me this as my friend or my boss?"

"Both," Amaya smiled, before turning and walking back into the school.

A smile crossed Zari's face as she watched Amaya walk back into the school. All she could think about was her perfectly curled hair bouncing with her as she walked. For as long as she knew her, Amaya had styled her hair in either big tight curls, straightened, or braided, but she always kept it long, and Zari always thought it was beautiful.

The sound of her car horn brought her out of her pining, as she turned around to glare at Behrad, who was sitting in the driver's seat laying on the horn. He immediately stopped when she turned around, and he climbed over into the front seat. Knowing that she didn't have the heart to kill him, today at least, Zari just shook her head and walked over to her car. When she looked back to the front gate, Amaya was long gone.

* * *

Behrad was quiet on the way home. Zari tried to reassure him that, despite his actions, he was right and that it was wrong that he got suspended. However, he just continued to stare out the window.

Zari parked a block away from their apartment building, sighing as she turned off the car. There was only street parking available for her building, and there was never enough for the multiple apartment buildings on her block.

"Hey," Zari said, hoping to get Behrad's attention. "Since we have the rest of the day off why don't we do something fun, like play fortnight or minecraft?"

"I don't like those video games," Behrad said, refusing to look at her, and staring out the window at the cars parked ahead of them.

"Okay, so what do you want to do? We can do anything you want?"

"I don't want to do anything," he said, grabbing his backpack and opening the car door, then slammed it behind him.

Zari took a moment to let out a huge sigh before she reluctantly got out of the car and caught up with him. They both absent mindedly walked down the block side by side in silence. Zari got so lost in her head, trying to think of all of the ways she could try and help him, that she almost ran into him, as he had frozen in front of her.

"Zari isn't that ICE?" Behrad said, pointing to the van that was parked on the street next to them.

Zari's whole world stopped as she stared at the empty car. The ICE van had bars on the windows, and Zari knew exactly why they were there.

She froze like a statue on the sidewalk, her coat suddenly felt like nothing but paper mache against the cold April air, as the frost bit into her soul. She pulled Behrad behind her and walked to the edge of the building before peeking around the corner. Sure enough, there were several men in ICE uniforms and guns looking like they were ready to storm the place. Zari didn't wait to get a better look at them before she turned and grabbed Behrad's hand, and ran back to her car. She pushed Behrad in front of her as she reached for her keys. However, she fumbled as she pulled them out of her pocket and they fell out of her hands. Zari cursed as she quickly dropped down to pick them back up.

Every second she wasn't in the car with Behrad was another second where ICE could come around the corner and demand their papers.

Zari's hands shook as she pressed the button to unlock her car. She opened the passenger side door and urged Behrad in, shutting the door as soon as he was inside. She looked over to her shoulder and quickly got in, once again fumbling with her keys and putting them into the ignition. She quickly exited the parking space, turned around, and went back exactly the way she came. Zari kept looking in her rearview mirror, waiting for the van to pop up behind her as she drove the city streets. She just drove aimlessly, worried that someone was following her and unsure of where to go. She couldn't go back to the apartment, and she didn't dare go to the bakery.

She just drove. Zari went as far as she could in the opposite direction. She avoided the main street and just kept going. She drove aimlessly around the town, eventually ending up in the suburbs, with the fancy houses and the trees hanging over them like a tunnel. She was low on gas and the anxiety had worn her thin.

"Zari, where are we going?" Behrad asked.

It was getting dark, and the light shined on the wet green leaves. They needed a safe place to crash, and Zari knew just where to go.

"Somewhere safe."

She took side streets and wound through the city, peeking around every street corner before she proceeded until she finally made it to Amaya's apartment building. Parking in a guest spot, Zari carefully looked around as she opened the passenger side door and ushered Behrad out.

Zari constantly looked over her shoulder, even as they stood on Amaya doorstep and knocked. Amaya answered the door with a look of relief as she pulled them into the apartment, shutting the door behind them.

"Thank God you're okay," Amaya said, pulling Zari in for a hug and holding her tightly. "Kendra called just after you left and said that ICE was at the bakery looking for you, and when we couldn't get a hold of you we thought the worst."

It was strange, but Zari felt safe in Amaya's arms. Amaya wrapped her arms around Zari and hugged her, giving her a gentle squeeze that made Zari feel like it was okay to fall apart.

"They were at my apartment building. I didn't know what to do. I didn't have my papers and I can't leave Behrad alone. I can't go back to Iran. I barely even remember being there. I have no family or friends there. I didn't know what to do. So I just got back in my car and turned around, we've been wandering the city for the last couple of hours, and I didn't know where else to go."

It all fell out of Zari's mouth like a water fountain. The tears collected in her eyes and fell down her cheeks, and her voice became heavy and wavered. Zari's tears stained Amaya's shoulder as she shook with sobs. Amaya held her in her arms and guided Zari over to the couch where they could sit together.

"Zari?" Behrad asked. As Zari looked over at him, she saw he looked just as broken, scared, and confused as she was. Zari reached out and Behrad let her pull him in for a hug as he started crying as well, and Amaya put her arms around both of them.

She sat on Amaya's couch and sobbed for a good half hour. The tears just kept coming and coming. Zari hadn't cried this much since her parents died. She did the same thing now that she had done then, showed up on Amaya's doorstep and cried in her arms. Back then it was just the two of them. Zari looked over to see Kuasa leaning against the wall, watching them with a frown. She looked down at Behrad, sweeping his hair back and kissed his forehead as he shook in her arms.

Zari took his face in her hands and looked down at him, trying to muster as much assurance as she could. "Behrad, listen to me okay? We're going to be fine. I'm not going to get deported okay, I'm going to stay right here with you, I promise."

"But how?" Behrad asked.

"I'm going to help Zari get a green card," Amaya said, looking down at him and sounding as sure as Zari wanted to. "I can sponsor her."

"Thank you," Zari whispered to Amaya with a soft smile before returning back to Behrad. "See, you don't have anything to worry about, everything's going to be okay."

It was a lie, but this wasn't something Zari wanted him worrying about. This wasn't something that he should have to worry about, as he was legal. Her legality was not only an adult responsibility, it was her's, and she should have taken care of it.

It didn't stop the tears, but it lessened them. Kuasa brought over the box of tissues and Zari put on a movie, something funny, with Robin Williams that was guaranteed to lift their spirits. Amaya made them dinner, and they all sat on the couch and ate.

Things felt better after that, and Zari insisted on helping Amaya with the dishes, if only so they could talk.

"Thanks for saying that," Zari said, glancing over her shoulder before returning her gaze back to the sink filled with warm soapy water as she scrubbed out the pan.

"Zari, I wasn't just saying that, I really want to help you."

Zari let out a huge sigh and rinsed out the pan, setting it in the drying rack. She grabbed the rag to dry her own hands, turning around to lean against the counter.

"I can't afford the legal fees and I can't afford to be sent back to Iran. I was seven when my parents brought me over. I've never known anything other than America, and it would take years, even months for me to get back, if they let me come back."

"Laurel's a lawyer. We can talk to her and I'm sure she knows someone who specializes in immigration."

"And what if I get caught before them?"

"You don't know that Amaya," Zari said, throwing the towel a little too hard at the counter. "I wish there was an easier way. But for now I just have to keep my head down and hope this was just a one time thing."

"Zari?" Amaya said, lowering her voice and stepping closer to her. "What if there was a way for you to get a green card?"

"How?"

"You could marry me."

Zari looked at her, seriously considering it. "Okay."

* * *

The next evening Kendra and Sara rolled up to Amaya's house, because that's what they do whenever something happens. They all gather together to help each other out. Kendra and Carter brought dinner, and Sara brought Laurel and a suitcase of clothing, and a box of things from their apartment for Zari and Behrad.

"Thank god you're okay," Sara said, hugging with tears in her eyes which she pretended to casually wipe away. "I don't know what we would do if you got sent away."

"I'm trying not to think about that," Zari said, pulling away from Sara only to be welcomed into a hug from Kendra.

"Well whatever happens, we're going to figure it out," Kendra said, letting go of her.

"Of course we will, and we'll do it together," Amaya said, putting her arm around Zari's waist.

"Come on, let's eat and we can talk after dinner," Kendra said.

Zari and Behrad set the table, and Kendra and Hector brought out the food. Amaya had a little dining table that stretched out to fill the kitchen. It was a tight squeeze, but nobody complained, as being close brought a familiar comfort.

It reminded Zari of when she was a little, back in Iran, and being in the kitchen with her mother and all the aunties, during the holidays. Everyone was talking and laughing, enjoying the smell of good food prepared with loving hands. She knew her extended family would never welcome her back, as they had cut her out of their lives after she came out as Pansexual when she was twenty. Her parents had never stopped loving her, but they were all she had back then.

"Kendra, when did you make this?" Sara asked, wrinkling up her nose with a disgusted face as she held the container of Gumbo away from her.

"I just made it this afternoon, why?"

"I don't know, it smells off or something," Sara said as Laurel takes a container from her.

"Your nose has been off all morning, you thought the eggs I was cooking were bad," Laurel said, taking the container away and smiling as she placed it on the table. "It smells wonderful, Kendra."

"I don't know what it is. I just keep getting so nauseous," Sara said, sitting down at the table.

"You're not getting sick or are you?" Amaya said, turning her head to look back at her as she put the rice in the rice cooker.

"It's probably food poisoning from that burger joint you went to yesterday," Kendra said, taking the Gumbo from Laurel and scraping it into a pot to reheat for them.

"Ugh, you went there again," Amaya sighed, as she turned away from the rice cooker.

"Sara, that place is disgusting! The food is basically doused in grease," Laurel said, scolding her.

"That's what makes it so good," Sara said, a dreamy look on her face as she remembered the burger.

"I've never gotten sick there and it's not that bad. Plus the burgers alone are so worth it." Zari had to agree with her, the food at that place was heavenly, and everyone always exaggerated the state of the place. It was mostly clean, but the little hole in the wall place with the old decorum did create a bit of a bias.

"You two are disgusting. I don't know how you can eat that stuff. You're going to clog your arteries," Kendra said, looking at both of their faces, although she was mostly teasing them as she saw them both dream about the burgers. Sara and Zari both shared a look, knowing that place was their secret weakness.

"I guess we'll just have to do an extra work out next time we stop in," Sara said as she held up her fist.

"I suppose so," Zari agreed, fist bumping her with their secret fist bump.

"There are some roasted veggies in the fridge if you want, Sara?" Amaya said, peeking in her fridge that was mostly blocked by Kuasa's chair.

"That'd be great, thanks."

They all ate together, talking and laughing and for a moment, Zari forgot why they were all together. She just smiled at the wonderful woman who graciously hosted them all, as if it were a fine dining experience. Amaya made them all sit down and graciously thanked Kendra for the food. She brought out juice for the kids and made sure that the rice and vegetables were enough for Sara. She made sure that everyone else had already gotten a serving of fry bread and only served herself once everyone else's plate was full.

Zari made sure to grab a plate of sweet corn before anyone else could take the last stalk and saved it for her. Amaya gave her the sweetest of smiles that made her heart flutter. "I would love to be married to her." The thought popped up in her head.

They had agreed that it would be a last resort sort of thing, or at least that they wouldn't talk about it with anyone else until they had no choice but to proceed with a marriage. They'd have to convince the state and the government that they were in love and wanted to be married. They could only do that if they convinced their friends as well.

Zari knew it wouldn't be easy to do, especially since she was already in love with Amaya. Loving her would be so easy, putting Amaya first, doing little things for her and supporting her. Zari knew she could do it, because she wanted to. She truly loved Amaya, yet somehow the idea of a fake marriage made actually telling her twice as hard, so Zari forced herself to love Amaya from afar, and be a good friend to her.

After dinner, things get serious. They put on a movie for the kids in the living room and wait for them to all get settled before retreating to Amaya's bedroom, where Amaya carefully shuts the door, watching them down the hall. None of them want the kids to have to worry about this, especially not Behrad.

Laurel took her time looking over all of Zari's paperwork as Zari told her about the situation. Amaya, Sara, and Kendra looked on as they watched them speak, and Zari knew that they were desperate to help. As she finished telling Laurel about everything, Laurel took a few more minutes to look over their options and some of Zari's paperwork.

Everything rolls around in Zari's head, she fidgeted and sat restlessly in the reading nook. She got up and looked over to see that Sara had fallen asleep on the bed, and Kendra had left to check on the kids. Zari looked over at Amaya who sat on the bed as well and Amaya reached out to grab her hand and give it a squeeze. Amaya's reassuring smile made Zari relax and she nodded her head, knowing that somehow everything would be okay, so long as she and Amaya could work together.

"Okay," Laurel said, getting their attention. "So the good news is that we have a few options. The bad news is that it's going to take a lot of time."

Zari tried to pay attention as much as she could, and there was a lot of legal jumble that she didn't quite understand, but basically, their options were this: in order for Zari to become a legal citizen or to at least get a Visa, it would involve several things, including going back to Iran and applying for a visa and green card. However, the application process would take years, and even then, Laurel couldn't guarantee that Zari could get a green card or a work Visa, despite Amaya's sponsorship that would cost them thousands of dollars. All in all, it looked bleak, and Amaya's offer of marriage looked better and better.

"Thanks for everything, Laurel," Zari said, as she hugged her as they got ready to leave.

"We can figure this out, Zari," Laurel said, letting go but giving her shoulder a squeeze. "I know it's not easy, but we can do it."

Zari just nodded again, but she couldn't stop thinking about how long and hard the process would be.

Everyone else said their goodbyes, and Zari and Amaya got the kids settled. Behrad would sleep on the pull-out bed in Kuasa's room, like they usually did for sleepovers, and Amaya and Zari argued over who would take the couch.

"If you won't let me take the couch, then at least share the bed with me," Amaya offered, as Zari stepped out of the bathroom, having changed into the pajamas from her suitcase.

Zari felt her breath catch in her throat at Amaya's offer. She knew she should refuse, not wanting to make Amaya uneasy by sharing a bed with her crush. "I don't know if it's a good idea."

"I don't mind if you don't," Amaya said, turning to walk down the hall as Zari followed her. "But I understand if you want to keep your modesty."

"It's not that," Zari said, standing next to the bed with her.

Sharing a bed with Sara or Kendra never felt as intimate, and doing so with Amaya felt both intimate and casual at the same time. So Zari grabbed a pillow and put it in between them before laying on top of the bed, testing the waters and her feelings.

Amaya crawled under the covers and curled up next to the pillow, reaching across it to hold Zari's hand. That little gesture made Zari feel at ease as she caved to Amaya's comfort.

"Thank you," Zari said, rolling over to face her. "For everything. For taking us in and helping me through this."

"Of course, what are friends for," Amaya said, with a soft smile.

"Friends, yeah," Zari said, staring at the wall behind them.

"What do you think about Laurel's suggestions for an employee based Visa?" Amaya asked, sitting up slightly to talk to her.

Zari rolled back over to stare up at the ceiling, but never let go of Amaya's hand. "I think it's our best option."

"I think getting married would be the best option for you, you could stay in the US and look after Behrad, and it would be quicker and easier for all of us."

"I don't want to impose upon you, Amaya."

"You wouldn't be," Amaya insisted with a squeeze of her hand. "I want to do this for you, Zari. I want to be with you and I want to take care of you and Behrad."

"You do?" Zari asked, quickly turning to look back at her. That familiar feeling of warmth and love surged in Zari's chest and all she could do gaze over at Amaya.

"Yes, when I pulled away from you at the park, I was letting fear get in the way. I care deeply about you, and although this isn't the best situation for everything, I want to try and do this with you, have a relationship with you."

"I think I love you, Amaya," Zari said, and she blamed her quick words on the exhaustion and stress of the day.

"I think I love you too," Amaya said, leaning over the pillow and finding her lips on Zari's.

Amaya let her set the pace, and Zari leaned up to gently kiss her. Her lips feel heavenly against Zari's. Kissing Amaya sent Zari's heart to the clouds. She wrapped one arm around Amaya's waist and pulled Amaya's body on top of her, feeling her gentle weight.

Amaya let out a moan as Zari opened her mouth to let Amaya slip her tongue in. The kiss remained soft, yet passionate as they explored each other's mouths. Zari let her hands run down Amaya's back as she traced the outline of her spine through her red tank top.

Amaya reached up to cup Zari's face as she kissed her, rubbing her cheek with her thumb. Zari sighed as she melted into Amaya's lips. Fireworks exploded in her brain as Zari kissed her. All she could think about was Amaya's lips on hers. How soft Amaya lips were, how gentle Amaya was with her, and how warm and right this all felt.

Zari whined as Amaya pulled away, opening her eyes to see Amaya hovering above her with a soft smile. Amaya leaned back down and Zari closed her eyes, waiting for her lips. But rather than kiss her lips, Amaya trailed her kisses across Zari's cheek. Zari sighed in content as Amaya continued her way across her cheek to her ear, nipping on her lobe. Amaya kissed her way down Zari's jaw as Zari moaned and withered under her.

Zari gripped her back as Amaya's lips went past her collar bone to her chest. Yet Amaya stopped at the hem of her shirt and pulled back, leaving Zari to groan and pull Amaya back in. Zari kept her eyes closed as Amaya leaned back, sitting up on Zari's abs.

"Zari?" Amaya asked, her voice soft as she pulled Zari out of her head.

Zari looked up at Amaya, who had her hands on the bottom of Zari's top. Zari moved her hands to hold Amaya's hips as Amaya bit her lip and looked down at her hands.

They heard movement from down the hall as one of the kids opened the door of Kuasa's room. They froze as they waited, until finally, they heard the sound of the bathroom door opening and closing. They waited, frozen in place, until they heard them finish in the bathroom, patter down the hall, and back into Kuasa's room, closing the door behind them.

They shouldn't be doing this, the kids are right down the hall. Amaya quickly got up and off of Zari's lap, and Zari sat up as Amaya walked over and gently locked the door to her room. When she turned back to Zari with a shy look, she perched on the edge of the bed. Zari reached out and took her hand, and Amaya looked up at her with desire in her eyes. Zari forgot how to breathe, the reality of what they were about to do dawned upon her, and she hesitated.

Zari always thought of herself as a devout Muslim. Abstaining from sex till marriage was something that everyone in her religious community did, and they expected the same from her.

Being pansexual made things different, most of the women she had dated had no religious attachments to sex and wanted it from her and expected her to have had it. Being a part of the two communities with so very different philosophies had always been a struggle.

Apart from Zari's religious beliefs and teachings surrounding sex, Zari's mother was always open to her and answered questions about sex. She told Zari to never take it lightly, that sex with someone you loved would be a serious step in the relationship and was not to be used to push someone who wasn't ready.

Zari always waited until she was in a serious relationship with someone to have sex with them. She wanted them to commit to her in the way she felt she was committing to them, and now as she was faced with Amaya and her clear intentions, she pulled back. Zari sat up against the headboard and pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.

She knew Amaya on a deeply personal level, they had been friends for years and Zari had told Amaya things she had told no one else. They had talked about their hopes, and dreams, and fears for the future. She did propose to her. But as Zari looked over at Amaya, she knew that she didn't want to do this.

"I want to wait until we're married," Zari said, taking a deep breath as she spoke. "I know it's just fake marriage, but it's still marriage and it means something to me."

Amaya gave her a soft smile and nodded. "Of course, I'm sorry Zari I shouldn't have pushed you for sex."

"Thank you for understanding," said Zari, giving her a soft smile in return.

"You don't need to thank me. I love you and this is what you want. I respect your wishes on this, and I'll go sleep on the couch so you can have the bed," Amaya said, reaching over and taking her hand. She then grabbed her pillow and got up to leave.

"No wait," Zari said, reaching out to her as the loneliness set in. "Can you stay? Just to sleep? It'd be nice to hold you."

Zari looked up at her, suddenly shy at her request. Amaya obliged her with a soft and loving smile as she put the pillow back down and crawled back into bed. She crawled over to Zari as they both laid down and she laid her head on Zari's chest. They both let out a content sigh as they snuggled together. However, neither of them were the least bit sleepy. They both laid together, wide awake as the anxieties of the day still bounced around in their heads.

"We should go down to the courthouse on Monday and meet with the Justice of the Peace. They can marry us and then we'll announce it to our friends. And not just so we can have sex. It'd be nice to get ICE off of our backs as soon as possible," Zari said, as she rubbed up and down Amaya's spine, thinking about how quickly the process would be. "We can get married just like that."

"Just like that," Amaya said, tracing her fingers along Zari's other arm. "Of course we'll have to plan a wedding to make it seem real and convince everyone, including the government."

"And our friends," Zari said, with another sigh. "Are you still sure you want to do this?"

Amaya picked up her head and looked up at Zari. "I'm sure."

Zari gave her a sad smile, but leaned in to kiss her again as words could not convey her gratitude. Amaya smiled against her lips before pulling back and resting her chin on Zara's chest.

"I've always wanted an eight foot tall cake, covered in roses, with an ombre white to pink going down. Simple but with elegance and craft," Amaya said in a dreamy voice.

"I'm sure you've thought a lot about it?"

"Yeah."

"Then if we're going to do this we should actually do this," Zari said, stilling her hand and looking down at Amaya.

"It would be nice to have an actual wedding. Is there any kind of wedding thing you have always dreamed of?" Amaya asked, looking up at the ceiling. "We might as well go all out. We can afford it and I don't know, I guess it's silly, but I kind of like the idea of having a big wedding with you."

Zari thought about it for a moment; most people dream of their wedding as a child and she was no different. "I've always wanted to get married in the summer during the sunset, in the woods somewhere outdoors."

"I've always wanted to get married outside with the trees overhead," Amaya said, turning and cuddling into her chest.

"I'll start looking at venues tomorrow."

"And I'll draw up a plan for the cake," Amaya giggled, and Zari couldn't help but join in. They quietly giggled, dreaming about their wedding.

Zari smiled as her giggles tapered off, feeling like she was in a dream. Marrying Amaya would be a dream come true, and the fact that she loved her as well made Zari want to pinch herself with happiness. They drifted off to sleep thinking about their wedding and despite everything, Zari was full of happiness.


	5. And The Dish Ran Away With the Spoon

It was an unusually quiet Saturday at the Bakery, Sara had just opened a little later than usual since none of the usual early morning customers were in yet, Amaya and Zari were nowhere to be found and the kids were playing in the office. Kendra was in the back doing prep work, and Sara was doing some extra cleaning in the corners of the seating area and trying not to gag on the vinegar cleaner.

The front door slammed open, and Zari and Amaya rushed in, followed by Kuasa and Behrad. Despite their quick entrance and sour faced kids, Zari and Amaya both had dazzling summer smiles, and seem to float on cloud nine as they ran over. Behrad and Kuasa made themselves scarce and scampered off to the office.

"Hey watch the…" Sara popped up from under the counter with a rag, wiggling her finger at them both, but was quickly cut off by Zari.

"You guys," Amaya sang. "We've done something amazing, I mean it's completely rash but it's amazing. We're so excited."

"It's not too rash," Zari said, putting her hand on Amaya's arm. "We have known each other for years."

"Still, it's pretty rash," Amaya said, looking over at her.

Sara looked at them and then over Kendra, who had come out from the kitchen, looking just as confused as to why they were acting and talking so outrageous.

"Wait, what's going on?" Sara asked, but before she could continue her question Amaya started up again.

"Well we were talking this morning, and at first it was just an idea we started to look into..."

"And then we found this perfect place and called just because we were curious, we figured we wouldn't be able to book it for at least a year or so," Amaya said, easily picking up when she stopped.

"But they had a last minute cancellation and had an opening for August, so we jumped on that and booked it, but we just couldn't wait so we went downtown to the courthouse and met with the judge."

It was at that point that suddenly everything clicked in Sara's head. "Oh no, you didn't!"

"Oh, we did," Zari said in both disbelief, but utterly happy with their decision. "I even have a dress picked out, it was my mother's and it fits perfectly."

"Are they talking about what I think they're talking about?" Kendra asked in disbelief.

"We also have my parents' rings," Amaya said. "They're both very simple gold bands, and my mother's has just the one diamond."

"But they're perfect," Zari said, gazing down at the ring on her left hand.

"You got married?!" Sara yelled. There was no question about it with the two of them standing there.

"Woah, woah, woah," Kendra said, holding up her hands and closing her eyes for a second. "Let me get this straight, you guys are engaged right now, and your plan is to get married in August of this year, in four months?"

"No," they both said in unison.

"We already got married," Amaya explained with a smile. "We're just planning a formal ceremony that will take place in two months."

"We've thought it over and it's what we want," Zari added with a matching smile.

"Exactly how long have you both thought about this?" Kendra asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Since we got together two months ago," Amaya said.

"But when I caught you two making out last week you said it had only been a month," Kendra stammered.

"Well, technically it's been seven weeks," Zari said, looking up as she did the mental math.

"Oh shit," Sara said. The realization dawned upon her. Seven weeks ago she and Ava had started sleeping together regularly. Six weeks ago she had her period, which was now a whole week late.

"Yeah, oh shit is right," Kendra said. "You two cannot get married after only a month and a half of dating."

"Oh come on, Kendra," Zari said, walking over to her. "You're the one who always goes on and on about how you knew from the moment you meet Carter that he was the one."

"Yes, I have said that."

"And you two were engaged after six months and married after a year," Amaya said, raising her eyebrow.

"Yes, but the difference between two months and six months is a huge amount of time."

"We've known each other for two years." Zari said looking over at Amaya with loving eyes. "We know what we're doing, and this is what we want."

"I have to go," Sara said, coming out of her daze. As much as she wanted to push aside her own problems and focus on what was going on with her friends, she had to know for sure if she was pregnant or not. She turned around and walked straight back towards their office. "I have to go to the store. I'll be right back."

"Sara wait," Kendra said, following her down the hall. "You can't leave. We have to talk them out of this!"

"I know, but..." Sara hesitated. She and Kendra had always been especially close, but this was something that she would usually keep to herself, although she hadn't had a pregnancy scare in several years, and she knew Kendra wouldn't judge her. She would be there for her whatever the outcome was. "Kendra, I think I'm pregnant and I need to know for sure."

Kendra's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates, but she nodded. "Go, I'll cover for you and say we need some wine or donuts or something if we're going to discuss this."

"Thanks," Sara said, rushing into her office and grabbing her coat and wallet, slipping it into her back pocket. "In the meantime call up everybody, Mick, Gideon, Ray, Nora, Nate, Mona, Ava, and definitely call Charlie. If anyone can knock some sense into these two it's them."

"Oh yeah," Kendra said, pulling out her phone.

Ten minutes later, Sara stood in line at the local grocery store with a bottle of wine, a dozen donuts, and a pregnancy test. This was by far the first time she had done this, though she'd had a few other pregnancy scares since she lost her virginity as a teenager. However, she'd never bothered to buy more than one test, it had only been positive once.

She always thought that Sin was her one, her one pregnancy, her one kid. She wondered if this time the baby would be blonde like her and Ava, whereas Sin got their thick black hair from Len. Sara shook her head, she couldn't think about that, not until she took the test.

The cashier checked her out with a raised eyebrow, but let her take the test, the wine, and donuts. Sara walked over to the bathroom, and five minutes later she was sitting in her car with the wine and donuts in her front seat and the test on her console. She waited anxiously as the timer on her phone counted down, five, four, three, two, one. Her phone vibrated, and she quickly shut off the alarm.

This was it. Sara took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and grabbed the test. When she opened her eyes, she looked down at two very pink lines. It was positive. She was pregnant with Ava's child.

"Oh mama," she said. This was going to change their lives forever.

That is if she kept the pregnancy. She would be okay financially, she knew that, but emotionally and physically? She was so sick with Sin, and her body ached the entire time. The hormone changes put her on an emotional roller coaster, and having Len there kept her steady and helped her emotionally. Feeling Sin grow and kick inside of her, and now watching them grow and mature into their own person now, it was worth all nausea, all the pregnancy aches, the crazy emotions, the painful labor and delivery, the sleepless nights, and endless worry.

She knew that Ava would support her financially and physically if she wanted to keep it, Ava had always been so responsible. They would split time when they were old enough, but even that would be difficult for everyone, especially a kid. But would Ava want it? Like Sara, Ava had always thought of Gary as her one child, and Sara knew that she was happy with things the way they were.

Sara knew she couldn't do this on her own unless Ava was there for her emotionally, physically, and financially. Sara was so thankful that Len was there for her when Sin was a baby, and raising Sin was the hardest thing she's ever done. Sara didn't know if she could do it again on her own. She didn't have the luxury to think about wanting to keep the baby. She couldn't do it on her own, as much as she would love them. She and Ava had to be in this together, or not at all.

That's what she would do, she would tell Ava and they would talk this over, and then she would make her decision. She turned her key in the car and started it up, driving out of the parking lot and back to the bakery. Right now she had to stop her friends from making the worst decision of their lives, and afterward, she and Ava could talk.

Apparently, not everyone wanted to talk them out of this. By the time Sara had gotten back, pretty much everyone was there.

Sara held up the bottle of wine and box of donuts as she walked in, having hidden the test in her coat pocket, thanks to the cap she had placed over the "pee here" end. She handed the wine to Kendra and whispered that they would talk later.

"I'm so happy you're married!" Ray said, pulling Amaya in for a hug.

"Thanks," Amaya replied.

Mona seemed to vibrate with excitement and let out a high pitch squeal.

"Aunt Mona, Please don't scream, it hurts my ears," Gary said, with his ears covered with his hands.

"Yeah, stop with the squealing, there will be no wedding and you two will get an annulment if I have anything to say about it!" Charlie said, making their displeasure known.

"Anyone who gets married is an idiot," Mick announced and Charlie nodded in agreement.

Zari and Amaya argued back, and Sara walked over to where Ava was sitting at one of the tables, pulling up a chair next to her. Gary sat down at the table next to them and started looking up at the poster for John Constantine's show that was placed above him.

"Thanks for texting me, from the looks of it they're pretty set on going through with the wedding," Ava said with a concerned look.

"No problem," Sara said, whispering to her. "It's gonna take a lot to talk them out of this."

"Well they have known each other for two years, and if this is what they want them maybe we shouldn't stop them."

What?" Sara said, turning her head to look at Ava as she tried not to yell. "You can not honestly think that this is a good idea?"

"No, of course not," Ava stammered. "But they're already married. We may not be able to talk them out of this and you don't want to lose your friends, right?"

"No, but we have to at least try."

"Okay," Ava said with a smile, and Sara sighed, happy to know that Ava was on her side.

"This is insane!" Nate said. his hands on the top of his head. "You two are insane!"

"That's what I said," Behrad added, and Nate put his hand on the boy's shoulder in solidarity.

Things quickly dissolved into a squabble, and Sara turned away from the commotion.

"I guess we picked the wrong couple to bet on," Ava said, with a chuckle. "And this doesn't mean you win."

"I wasn't actually trying to win anything, I was just trying to get you to like me," Sara confessed.

That gave Ava pause. "You wanted me to like you?"

"Yes," Sara said, looking over at her.

They stared at each other for a moment. Neither one had admitted that they had feelings for the other. Sara knew that there was a possibility of Ava actually liking her, but it was something they had never discussed. It had mostly been a friends-with-benefits situation before things got complicated with the feelings Sara had had for the last few weeks. Feelings she suspected Ava reciprocated. Now things were complicated with more than just feelings.

"Hey Mama look! Constantine is having a show next weekend can we go?" Gary called out, now standing on the chair to get a better look at the poster.

"We'll see about that honey, but can you please sit down?" Ava said, in her teacher-mom voice.

"Okay," Gary quickly complied, sitting back down and reading his book.

With everyone else weighing the pros and cons and trying to talk some sense into the newlyweds, Sara took the opportunity to talk to Ava.

"He's a pretty easy going kid," Sara said, watching him read. "Sin usually doesn't like to sit and read like that. Watch videos or play games yes, but they prefer to be moving."

"Yeah, some kids are just built like that. I loved to read and I read to him a lot when he was younger, so I guess he just sort of inherited it from me. We both can just sit and read for hours," Ava said with a smile.

Sara smiled too, then remembered the other reason why she wanted to talk to Ava. "Hey, do you have any free time this weekend? I really need to talk to you."

"Sara, I know you like me and I really like you too, but we can't see each other while I'm Sin's teacher."

"I know, and this isn't about that, I mean it is but..." Sara trailed off, shaking her head and trying to figure out what she wanted to say. "Look, why don't we just have a playdate with the kids. You can bring Gary over and we'll have dinner together. It would be good for Sin to make some new friends anyway."

Ava looked over at Gary and then back at Sara. "I don't know."

"Please, Ava?"

Ava seemed to think it over, and Sin got up from their place watching all of this go down next to Aldus and Kuasa, to stand next to Sara. Sara smiled and pulled Sin onto her lap, needing a bit of comfort as she went through her own craziness. Sin laid back and put their head on Sara's shoulder, and they both relaxed.

"Okay, Gary could use a new friend as well."

"Thank you," Sara said hoping her expression conveyed her gratitude.

"Alright everyone, enough this is happening whether you like it or not, now you can help us plan a wedding or you can leave," Amaya said, staring them down.

Everyone looked either content or defeated, and even Charlie huffed and sat down in one of the chairs, gesturing for Amaya to go on.

Sara sighed, the exhaustion of everything with Zari and Amaya and with her and Ava kicking in. At least everything was somewhat settled.

"Do you want to go watch a movie with me in the office?" Sara whispered in Sin's ear.

Sin nodded and got up, but still held Sara's hand needing some comfort of their own.

"Does Gary want to watch a movie?"

"He's probably fine for now, but if he wants to later I'll send him your way."

Sara nodded to Ava who smiled as they slipped away, and Kendra caught her eye as she left, following her into the office. Sin got the movie set up, and Kendra caught Sara's hand in the doorway.

"I'm pregnant," Sara whispered to her, turning away from the room.

Kendra pulled her in for a hug and Sara melted into her arms. She and Kendra were pregnant around the same time, and they supported each other. Through the surprise of being pregnant and normal pregnancy stuff, Sara was there when Kendra got her C-section, when Aldus was diagnosed with spina bifida, and Kendra was at her side when Sara's labor became high risk, then during the craziness of having newborns.

"What are you going to do?" Kendra asked, pulling back.

"I'm going to talk to Ava," Sara said, crossing her arms. "I don't know if I'll keep it, but I need her to be on board if I'm going to continue with this."

Kendra just nodded and rubbed up and down Sara's arms. "I'll cover for you whenever you need it, and I'll drive you to the clinic or to the doctors. Whatever you need."

"Thanks," Sara said, pulling her back in for one more hug before letting Kendra go and closing the door behind her.

She flopped onto the couch and laid down as Sin crawled up and laid in front of her. "We're watching Into the Spider-Verse."

"Sounds good," Sara said, even though this was the 100th time they were watching it.

Sara put one arm around them as Sin cuddled up against her, and they both relaxed as the movie started. Behrad and Aldus joined them not soon after, but Sara was out before the so-so popsicle joke that always started out the giggles.

Ava wasn't surprised when they weren't able to talk Amaya and Zari out of getting married. When someone sets their mind on something, it was happening and she knew that despite the suddenness of everything, they seemed sure in their relationship. The one thing that Ava was concerned about was what Sara had said to her at the Bakery. What could she possibly need to talk to Ava about?

Gary must have picked up on her nervousness, as he was equally concerned about meeting Sin and Sara. He hopped from one foot to the other on the elevator, as they headed up to Sara's third floor apartment.

"What if Sin doesn't like me?" Gary asked, looking up at her. "What if she thinks I'm weird like everybody else?"

"You're not weird, honey," Ava said, looking down, reassuring him and rubbing his shoulders. "You just do things differently, that's all. Just remember, boundaries and personal space, and try to alternate talking about your likes with asking Sin what they like."

Gary nodded and Ava smiled, trying to put herself at ease as well. When they stepped out of the elevator, they turned to see Sara standing in the hall. A brunette woman was holding their hands together between them, as they talked in low voices.

"Mama, that's Sara!" Gary shouted.

Ava paused, holding Gary's shoulder to wait. Sara looked over and dropped the hands of the other woman, stepping back and crossing her arms over her chest. Sara gave them a smile and a small wave. The other woman looked over as well. She seemed to be judging them, as her eyes narrowed and looked them up and down. They continued to talk in hushed tones as Ava walked forward.

When they were a few feet away the other woman leaned in and kissed Sara's cheek. Sara then reached out and hugged her, holding on tight for a moment, before letting go. Jealousy flared up in Ava, but she held it down. They had never talked about being exclusive, nor were they even technically dating. Sara was free to see other people, not that it still didn't make Ava want to be Sara's one and only.

"Goodbye Beloved," the other woman said.

"Goodbye Nyssa," Sara said, giving her a soft smile.

Nyssa turned and walked past them, but not before she grabbed Ava's arm, applying a tight grip. She leaned in and whispered in Ava's ear. "Please, take care of them. However, if you ever harm them in any way, I shall find you and return the pain you have inflected tenfold."

A shiver ran down Ava's spine as she looked into her dark eyes, knowing that she meant every word.

"Nyssa!" Sara hissed at her and pulled them apart.

Nyssa let go and walked down the hall. Ava looked back at her as Nyssa did the same, before opening the door to the stairwell and disappearing.

"Mama, what did she say to you?" Gary asked, completely oblivious.

"I'm sorry Ava," Sara said, ushering them into the apartment. "I didn't know she was coming over or I would have told her not to."

"You don't have to apologize. You can see whoever you want."

Sara opened her mouth to explain, but looked down at Gary. "Hey Gary, I heard you liked magic. Now Sin and I don't know much about it, but we did get the Lego movie game."

"I love the Lego Movie!" He smiled, getting excited. "Emmet is my favorite. I didn't know they had a video game! Can I play as Emmet?"

"We don't usually play video games at our house," Ava explained. "We've never really been into that kind of thing."

"Oh well, you don't have to, we can get out a game or some toys. Come on in, Sin's room is here on the left."

Sara went to the first black door on the left, knocking first then opening the door and peeked in.

"Sin, Gary and Ava are here. Can we come in?"

The door swung open and Sin smiled back at them. "Yeah come on, I've got the game all set up."

Ava peeked in to see Sin's room was set up with a TV, the game, and two bean bag chairs. There was a bunk bed and toy shelf stuffed into the small room with legos, books, and other toys strewn across the room.

"Sin, I thought I asked you to clean these up?" Sara asked, sweeping some of the legos to the side with her foot. "We don't want anyone stepping on these."

"Sorry Mom," Sin said, crouching down and picking them up in the box next to them.

"Woah," Gary said, looking over at the TV where the game was paused on screen. "Is that the Lego game?"

"Yeah," Sin said, running over and picking up the controller, and handing one to Gary. "Here, I'll show you how to play it."

"Wait," Sara said. "I think that Ava wanted you guys to find something else to play with."

"No it's okay," Ava said, waving her off. "I just meant that we don't have any video games at our house and I usually try to limit the TV time. Would it be okay if they just played for a half hour or so?"

"Yeah, we'll just set a timer," Sara said.

Sin got up and went over to the doorway, hanging onto the door frame as they poked their head out into the hall and shouted. "Hey Gideon, set a timer for 30 minutes."

A voice from the living room responded to them. "Okay, setting a timer for 30 minutes, starting now."

"My friend Gideon works for Smoak tech, and one of her inventions is a google home type thing. She gave it to us for Christmas a couple of years ago, before the release." Sara explained.

"Oh yeah, we have a Gideon at our place, I can't believe your friends with her," Ava said. They stood in the doorway, watching the kids start up their game and happily play for a couple of seconds.

Sara smiled. Sin and Gary got along pretty easily, as Sin showed Gary how to work the game, and they told him all about the Lego characters they were going to encounter. Sara nodded her head to Ava, and they both left.

Sara led her down the hall; there were two doors on each side of the hall, one on the right opened into a bathroom before finally the hall opened up to the main room. The dining room was directly in front of her, with the kitchen to her left, and to her right was a modest living room. The apartment was small, but cozy and well put together.

"You want any coffee or tea or anything?" Sara offered, taking a left into the kitchen and grabbing a mug from the countertop.

"Tea is fine, what do you have?" Ava asked, following her in.

"Well Laurel has a bit of a variety, looks like some peppermint, earl grey, there's a couple of others if you want to go through it?" Sara looked back at her, leaving the cabinet door open as she stepped back.

Ava looked over the variety and picked out an apple cinnamon type tea. When she turned around, Sara presented her with a simple blue mug full of hot water, and Ava put the teabag in and wrapped the string around the handle of the mug.

"I'm sorry about Nyssa threatening you in the hall. She's always been overprotective of us."

"It's okay," Ava said, trying to hide her curiosity. "But you don't have to explain yourself to me."

"I want to," Sara said, looking at her earnestly. "She was falsely imprisoned two years ago and apparently got out a couple of weeks ago. That's why we broke up actually, she sent us away as she didn't want Sin and I caught up in the middle of a business war between her and the man who was taking over her father's company. He was the one who had her imprisoned. She just wanted to see us again and make sure we were okay. She was saying goodbye, that's all."

"I get it," Ava said, in a soft tone. "If my ex-wife ever came back. I would want to talk with her too."

Sara smiled. She seemed to relax against the countertops, holding her mug between both of her hands.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Ava asked.

"Let's sit," Sara said, leading her back out of the kitchen and into the dining room. Sara set her mug down on the table before going back down the hall and closing Sin's door.

"We can open it in a second. I just don't want them to overhear anything."

Sara's worried look was back. It had been on her face from the moment she had told Ava they needed to talk back at the bakery a few days ago. Since then, Ava's mind had been racing with the possibilities of what Sara could have wanted to tell her. It was either about them or about Sin. Ava had logically thought it was the latter and had hoped that it was just Sara wanting to talk about Sin's new math IEP (Individualized Education Program) in regards to their Dyscalculia.

Sara sat down and folded her fingers together on the table in front of them. She looked down at them before looking back up at Ava. She hesitated and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Ava took a sip of her tea, trying to calm herself down. Then, Sara pulled out a stick and set it on the table in front of them.

"Ava, I'm pregnant."

Ava froze as she looked down at the positive pregnancy test. The muscles in her mouth stopped working, and she choked down her tea, coughing and sputtering.

"You're what? You're pregnant?"

"Yes."

"Wait, you're pregnant and it's mine?" Ava asked, still not processing all of it.

"Well, half yours, but yes. There hasn't been anyone else."

Throughout this whole thing, Sara had remained somber as she spoke, while Ava was flailing around like an idiot. Ava took a deep breath and closed her eyes, taking a minute to process everything. Sara was pregnant, Ava was the biological second parent, and Sara was pregnant with their child.

"Okay, how far along are you?" Ava said, opening her eyes and looking over at Sara.

"I don't know, maybe five or six weeks."

"Okay," Ava said, trying to think about how to move forward and what Sara would need from her.

"Okay, that's all you're going to say, okay?" Sara flailed, clearly as freaked out about this as Ava was.

"I'm sorry," Ava said. "I'm just still getting my head around all of this."

"No, it's okay," Sara said rubbing her forehead. "I'm just worried about this too."

Ava reached over and took Sara's hand, rubbing her thumb over the back of Sara's hand. "Have you thought about what you want to do?"

"Kind of," Sara said, shaking her head a little. "I'm not really sure I just, I know that I can't do this unless you're a hundred percent on board. If you don't want to keep it, then I know I can never do it on my own."

Sara looked back down the hall towards Sin's door. "Sin was a surprise, and I went through all of this with her father, Leonard, we decided to keep them even though we were just straight out of college. We were young, and we thought we could do it all and it worked out, even after he died. I had my family and they were a huge help, but even with them, after Len died I found out that I was pregnant again. I toyed with the idea of keeping it, but I couldn't do it. I had an abortion, and it feels like I'm in the same boat now. I know I can't do this on my own. I can't raise two kids alone. I mean, you know what it's like to be a single parent."

Ava nodded. "Gary was planned, but even after that, my ex-wife, she just couldn't handle taking care of a baby. Looking back, I wish I would have gotten her more help, like a nanny or a babysitter. My mom was staying with us and helped out for two weeks, but after she left my ex-wife just couldn't handle it. She decided she didn't want Gary, or me, or the life we had built together. From then on it was just me and Gary, on our own, and I did it because I had to and you're right, it worked out. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would, but it was still the hardest thing I've ever done. I moved back in with my family and they were a huge help, but I couldn't have done it without them."

Ava gave Sara's hand a squeeze and spoke again. "If this is what you want, then I am behind you a hundred percent. I'll go to all of the appointments, I'll buy everything we'll need for the baby, and we can work out something, but Sara do you want this?"

For the first time since Sara had told her they needed to talk, Sara gave her a genuinely happy smile. "Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I want another baby. Do you?"

Ava found herself easily smiling back at her, the thought of having another baby sent her straight to cloud nine. "Yes."

Sara let out a breath and continued to smile, a few happy tears slipping from the corner of her eyes. Ava scooted closer to her and squeezed her hands.

"Look Sara, I don't want you to have to worry about how you're going to take care of this baby okay? I am here for you and for them, I'm gonna cover all the expenses so I don't want you to worry about anything, and I want to be a part of not just the babies life, I want us, you, me, Gary, Sin, and this baby to be a family," Ava said tearing up a little as she tried to find a way to say what she wanted to say next. "You know that I didn't have a family growing up. I was born into the foster care system and I just got shuffled around from the Sharpe's who adopted me, but couldn't keep me, to the several other families who did the same."

Ava took a deep breath; there was a part of her that still hurt from that rejection, and being forced from the first home she ever had when the Sharpe's got caught stealing from their employers, even then Ava always felt like they were trying too hard.

"It wasn't until Nate became my friend in high school that he started inviting me over, and Dot and Hank, they took me in. They did everything that parents should when they didn't have to and even though they never officially adopted me, I always knew that I was a part of their family. I just wanted to tell you that, because I want you to know that I will never turn my back on this baby or you, and if you decide that you don't want this, you can change your mind and get an abortion, or I would gladly adopt the baby."

"No, no," Sara said, shaking her head. "I want them, and I want you too, and I wouldn't abandon this baby or you like your parents and your ex-wife did. I promise you that we're in this together, okay?"

"Yeah," Ava said, letting the tears fall and run down her cheeks as she let out another breath of relief.

They both cried, and Sara ran and grabbed the tissues from the bathroom, and Ava let Sara lead her over to the couch. They curled up together with a box of tissues and just held each other. Ava tenderly reached out and placed her hand on Sara's belly, and Sara folded her hand over Ava's. Once the tears stopped, Ava started making a plan, something she liked to do to calm her nerves, and she found that it helped Sara too.

"My mom and I kept some of Sin's baby things, a few special outfits and toys, but I gave away everything else. I never thought I'd need them again."

"Well, I kept most of Gary's things, even the crib, and the glider. I didn't think I'd use them again. but I just couldn't get rid of it, and there's one other thing." Ava hesitated, unsure of how to approach the next topic, as they both had gotten excited as they planned for the baby.

"In the future, once the baby's born or maybe before then, I'd like to set up some sort of living arrangement together. If you want, I'd be happy to have you and Sin stay with us. I just think that with a newborn, it would be really important for both of us to live together so that we can co-parent. We don't have to if you don't want to. I just want to make this as easy for everyone as possible."

Sara nodded, thinking about it a little and took a sip of her tea. "It's a good idea, I just don't think we should rush into this. I think we should take it slow, you know, like weekly dinners and playdates. We're gonna be a family, might as well start acting like it."

"That's fine with me," Ava said, nodding and trying not to feel disappointed. Sara was right, they should take this slow. "I just want to be here for you."

Sara bit her lip, before looking up at Ava and nervously asking, "Would you like to go out with me? As in, we start dating? I mean, I know we've talked and everything, but it's mostly just been a sexual relationship, and I'd like to get to know you more."

Ava's heart fluttered in her chest, of course she had feelings for Sara. Ava had grown quite fond of her during all of the times that they had gotten together, and had been anxiously waiting for the right time to ask her out. She was just disappointed that she hadn't had the guts to make the first move.

"I'd really like that," Ava said with a smile.

Sara smiled back at her and squeezed her hand. She let out a deep breath and giggled.

"Sorry," Sara said, hiding her smile behind her hand. "It's just weird, we're having a baby and we've already had sex, but now we're starting to date, it's just..."

"No it's okay, it is kind of funny," Ava said with a little laugh.

"Well, I'm happy we're doing this."

"Me too."

A little while later, Sara and Ava relaxed on the couch, while Gary and Sin were making a castle in Sin's room, having spilled the Legos all over the floor again. So far, they had already booked Sara's first appointment with her OB-GYN at a time both of them could attend and had spent the rest of the time getting to know each other. At first, it was difficult, they already knew so much about each other, but once they started talking about work and the kids, things seemed so easy, and neither of them realized what time it was until Laurel had come home.

The second the door opened and Laurel called out to them, Sara heard Sin race out to greet her. Sara realized how close she was to Ava, and Ava caught her look and scooted over to give a friendly space between them, then moved her arm from around Sara's shoulders to the back of the couch.

"Auntie Laurel!" Sin said, rushing into Laurel's arms.

"Hey, there's my little nibbling."

"Auntie, this is Gary, we're making a castle," Sin said, gesturing to Gary who lingered in the doorway.

"Well it's very nice to meet you, Gary," Laurel said, walking into the main room and setting her purse and briefcase down on the dining room chair. "Why is it so dark in here?"

Neither Sara nor Ava had realized the sun had already gone down and the early spring night set in, as they had been consumed with their conversation with each other.

"Oops, I guess we just lost track of time," Sara said, reaching over and turning on the lamp next to her.

"I'm guessing you haven't made dinner either?"

Ava and Sara's guilty face spoke for them.

"I'll get started on it right now," Sara said, getting up and out of Ava's arms.

"Hey Mom, can Gary stay for dinner?" Sin asked, walking with her into the kitchen.

Sara looked over at Ava who shrugged and said, "If it's okay with you, I think that would be fine."

"We'd love to have you. If you'll help me cook," Sara said.

"Of course."

"Yay! Come on Auntie, I want to show you this castle we made!" Sin said, trying to drag Laurel out of the kitchen.

"Wait, I want to say hi to Sara," Laurel said, digging in her heels to the carpet and giving Sara and Ava a quizzical look, no doubt inquiring into the manner of their relationship.

"But you talk all the time!" Sin protested.

"Okay, okay," Laurel said letting herself be dragged away.

Dinner went well, the kids played and laughed, and Sara was so relieved that they got along. Laurel suspected something, but she doesn't say so in front of the kids and indulged in their playful behavior. Sara wasn't very hungry, her nausea kept her from taking more than a few bites, but she kept her tea warm and Ava brought her a pack of crackers with the soup, sending her a soft and knowing smile. Sara knew that this was the right choice. Even though it would be difficult, having Ava there for her would make a world of difference.

After dinner, Laurel and the kids headed to the kitchen for cleanup duty, and Sara and Ava stole a moment away in the living room. She was able to talk with Ava, even if they had to do so quietly, but it wasn't long before both kids were jumping on them, interrupting their private conversations. It was getting late, but Sara didn't want to ask them to leave, nor did Ava seem eager to go. It seemed as though the kids had the perfect solution.

"Hey Mom?" Sin asked, looking up at her with their best pout and big blue eyes. "Can Gary sleepover?"

"Please, we'll both be really good! We promise we'll go to bed when we're told," Gary added, sitting next to Sin with equally adorable eyes, that Sara can see he got from Ava. "I'll only get up once or twice to use the restroom."

Sara looked over at Ava, who was taken aback by the question. Sara wanted to say yes, so that she could have Ava a bit longer. "It's okay with me, but you'd have to ask Ava."

They turned their adorable eyes to Ava, and Sara saw her being persuaded by their cuteness and pleading, but she managed to compose herself and look over them at Sara. "It's okay with you?"

"So long as you're down for it?"

"Well, I suppose that's alright."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Sin and Gary squealed with excitement.

"But," Sara added, ceasing their celebration, "I insist that Ava join us as well. It's a new place and, we don't know each other that well, and I wouldn't want Gary to be uncomfortable tonight."

Sara and Ava shared a knowing look. "I suppose I wouldn't mind having a sleepover of my own."

They plan to have a movie night, and Sara helped them put new sheets on the bottom bunk of Sin's bed for Gary. The two kids were now engaged in a mini lightsaber battle with two snake plushies they got from the fair last summer. Sara let them run off extra steam, while Ava ran home to pack them an overnight bag.

She tossed the old sheets into the washer, trying to avoid getting sick from the week old stinky kids smell. But there was one particular stinky sock that must have gotten stuck in the sheets, and she heaved. Sara turned away from the washer and fell over in front of the toilet, spitting up the tea and crackers. It came up as easy as it went down, and she was thankful that she had a light dinner.

Sara heard someone close the washer door and start it. She looked up to see Laurel pulling out the extra container of fragrance free soap they keep on hand for when they washed things for Aldus, measuring it out and putting it in the washer.

"If you want, I'll take over laundry duty for you, and we can switch to the fragrance free stuff?" Laurel offered, as she put the soap cap back and rinsed off the extra from her fingertips. "I remember how hard it was for you when you were pregnant with Sin."

"How did you know?" Sara asked, sitting back as Laurel offered her a cup of water, and Sara used it to rinse out her mouth.

"Well, you're not exactly subtle, running to the bathroom all the time, taking naps, drinking tea, eating crackers, and throwing out my favorite lemon scented candle. That was a dead giveaway," Laurel said, sliding down to sit next to Sara.

"I'll buy you a new one," Sara promised, as she leaned her head on Laurel's shoulder, and Laurel put her arm around her.

"You could have just put it in my room or told me to take it to my office, but no, you had to chuck it in the dumpster. Not the trash, the dumpster."

"Okay, okay, I'll buy you two new ones."

Laurel laughed, and Sara knew she was teasing. They sat on the floor against the wall as the washer ran.

"Is that why Ava was over today, and you two were acting all weird?"

"We weren't acting weird," Sara insisted.

"Oh please, you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. I'm surprised the kids didn't pick up on any of it."

Sara rolled her eyes and shoved Laurel with her shoulder, then looked down at her hands.

"She's the baby's other parent, and we're gonna try and make it work."

"So I suspect I'll be seeing a lot more of them."

"Yeah, we're going to try and do at least once weekly dinners and playdates, along with my appointments and other stuff."

"I can't wait for Mom and Dad to hear about this."

"Please don't tell them yet!"

"I promise I won't," Laurel said, holding up her hands.

Sara sighed, knowing how both of her parents would react. Her mother would be over the moon. Dinah would drop everything to come visit and probably get overly involved, while her father would be excited for her too, but he would worry about her and he'd probably go after Ava for knocking up his baby girl. Sara should definitely get things settled with Ava before she told either of them.

Laurel leaned over to give Sara a hug. "No matter what happens, I'm always going to be here for you, Sara. But tonight, I'm going to go over to Tommy's so I can give you and Ava a little bit of privacy. Although, I suppose Ava can't get you pregnant again."

The last part was said with a wink and Sara laughed and slapped her arm, Laurel feigned injury and wound up to strike Sara back.

"Wait, you wouldn't hit your pregnant sister," Sara said, with big eyes and as she held her belly.

"You're lucky you're cute," Laurel said, crossing her arms.

"Thanks," Sara said, nudging Laurel's shoulder. "It's going to be nice for Sin to have two siblings now."

"Not only that, but you both get a whole family now," Laurel said, and Sara knew that she longed for the same sort of thing.

The sound of a loud thump followed by breaking glass pulled them out of their sweet sisterly moment.

"We're okay," Sin called out followed by a. "But we broke something."

"Sara!" Gary said, running into the bathroom. "I'm so sorry, it was an accident. If you tell me where the broom is I'll clean it up."

Sara sighed and put her hands on her belly, as it felt like the baby was making her stomach flip flop.

"I'll show you, Gary," Laurel said, getting up. "And help you clean it up."

"Thanks," Sara said. Laurel sent her a wink and put her hand on Gary's shoulder. Sara wasn't the only one with a growing family.

They get the kids to bed pretty easily, both of them were worn out after the long day, and Laurel headed off to Tommy's not soon after, leaving both her and Ava alone. Sara's cravings have kicked in, and she was now laying on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, pesto covered chicken, cheese, and tomato stuffed pasta shells. Ava tried to hide her disgust, and she watched Sara inhale her food, and wrinkled her nose as Sara dipped the popcorn in pesto.

"It's not that bad," Sara insisted, poking Ava with her foot on the other end of the couch.

"To you, maybe," Ava said.

Sara just smiled and licked the rest of the sauce off of her fingers, before putting a plate on the coffee table and slowly sitting up, not daring to risk it coming back up.

"Well I guess I should make up the couch," Ava said, standing up and looking around for a spare blanket.

"Why?" Sara said with a shrug. "We can just share my bed, I mean it's not like we haven't already had sex."

"Well we haven't actually slept together before, and I don't want to give Gary or Sin the wrong impression."

Sara nodded. "Well, it's not too unusual at our place. Whenever Kendra or my other friend's sleepover we always share the bed, so Sin used to it. Not that I've ever brought home someone without Sin knowing about them before, but if you're uncomfortable you could sleep in Laurel's bed. I'm sure it's much more comfortable than the pullout bed."

"I don't mind the pullout," Ava said. There was a part of her that wanted to sleep next to Sara and find out what that would be like, but she wanted to take this part slowly, especially when the baby made things go so fast.

They got ready for bed, and Ava pulled out the fold away bed from inside of the couch and helped Sara make the bed. Ava quickly changed into her pajama shirt and matching pants; she brushed her teeth and washed her face before stepping out of the guest bathroom. She went over to the pull-out bed and crawled under the sheets, sitting up and pulling out a book. She had just finished the first page when she heard soft footsteps in the hall, and looked up to see Sara lingering in the entryway. She wore a pair of cute pajama shorts and a long sleeve shirt with a pair of pink fluffy slippers.

"You got settled okay?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Sara said, nodding her head, looking like she wanted to say more. "Well if you need anything, you know where my room is."

"Okay, Goodnight Sara."

"Goodnight Ava," Sara said, giving her a smile before she went back to her room.

Ava only read for a little while, as she had already stayed up pretty late. She settled into the bed that was surprisingly comfortable, but harder than her mattress at home. There were soft city lights from the windows, and the sound of the busy street below was different compared to her quiet neighborhood. At last, she fell asleep, however, she didn't quite sleep soundly and woke up sometime later. She sat up and looked over to see Sara puttering around in the kitchen.

"Sorry," Sara whispered, holding up a box of pasta. "I didn't mean to wake you. I'm just trying to find the granola bars I keep in here."

Ava just blinked at her, as she watched Sara put the pasta back and held her back, rubbing circles with her hand.

"Do you want me to rub your back?" Ava offered.

Sara sighed in relief and immediately walked over, holding her granola bar. "That would be amazing."

Ava moved to make room for her on the bed, and Sara laid down on her stomach as Ava went to work. She worked out the knots along her spine as Sara quietly ate, but before she was done Sara had fallen asleep. Ava didn't have the heart to kick her out of the bed, so she just put one arm around Sara and fell asleep next to her.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long, as a few hours later she felt someone poking her side.

"Mama? Mama?" Gary whispered, dragging out the syllables in her name. His favorite way to get her attention.

"What is it honey?" Ava said, opening one eye to see him standing next to her.

"Can I sleep with you?"

Ava opened both of her eyes and looked back to see Sara had rolled away from her.

"Sara's over there so there's room for me."

Ava nodded and scooted back to make room for him. She opened the covers and Gary happily climbed in, snuggling close to her.

"Sara and I had just stayed up talking and we accidentally fell asleep," Ava explained, hoping that he wouldn't question why they were sharing the bed.

"That's okay Mama," Gary whispered, already half asleep. "You're just having a sleepover too."

Ava sighed in relief at his explanation, but knew that she would have to ask Sara to leave the bed in the morning before he woke up.

Unfortunately, she didn't get the chance to do that. Ava awoke to feel the warm and soft morning sun creep into the windows. However, she soon realized she was stuck in between Gary and Sara as they had squished up against her. Each of them had an arm around her, and her and Sara's legs were tangled together. Sara's head was pressed against her shoulder blade, and Gary had spread out like a starfish, with one foot over her neck.

If she moved too quickly she would probably wake one of them up, something she wasn't inclined to do. As Ava gently moved, trying to wiggle out, she felt someone was watching her and looked over to see Sin glancing down at them. Ava immediately sat up, dislodging Gary and Sara from her side, but luckily neither of them awoke. She stared at Sin, who had their arms crossed and was glaring at Ava.

"Am I the only one around here who likes to sleep in their own bed?"

"I guess so," Ava said, eyeing them carefully.

"Do you like to make pancakes Miss Sharpe?" Sin asked, with a mischievous smile that Ava knew they got from Sara.

"I do like pancakes, and you can call me Ava outside of the classroom if you want?"

"Okay Miss Sharpe, Ava, I'll show you where we keep the pancake mix, but you gotta make the big pancakes, not the little ones," Sin insisted, as they ran over to the kitchen and grabbed a stool.

Ava got up and followed Sin into the kitchen. They climbed up onto the countertop and Ava reached up to spot them, but they did need it as Sin found the pancake mix, setting it on the counter before turning around and looking back at Ava.

"Catch," Sin said, and that was all the warning Ava got before Sin was flying into her arms. Ava carefully caught them and quickly set Sin down. Gary was never that brave, but years of teaching gave her quick instincts.

As they pulled the step stool over to the counter, Sin pointed out where the bowls and whisks were kept, and they poured a bit of pancake mix into a large bowl. Ava decided to add some nutrition to this surely sugary breakfast and brought out the eggs, along with some fruits and vegetables.

"So Sin, do you like cooking breakfast?" Ava asked, as she watched them mix up the bowl of pancakes.

"I love making pancakes," Sin announced, whisking with the speed that told Ava, they were a pancake pro.

"What do you love about making pancakes?" Ava asked, trying to spark up a conversation. Of course, she knew Sin from having them in her class, but this was different.

"I like mixing it up and then watching it bubble in the pan, and I like flipping them over."

"Well, you must be a pancake expert."

"I am! I know exactly when they need to be flipped over so that they're golden brown," Sin said, as they grabbed a knife, sliced off a good chunk of butter, and put it in the heated pan.

"Are there any other breakfast foods you like?"

Together, they poured the first pancake, and Ava made sure to fill the pan with batter, seeing how Sin's face lit up as she did.

"Yeah, I like cereal. Mom likes oatmeal, but that's boring unless you have the dinosaur egg one."

"Yeah, that one's a favorite in our house too," Ava said, dinosaur oatmeal was always the thing Gary begged for when they went shopping, but she usually saved it for special occasions.

Together, they quickly chopped up some strawberries and blueberries to mix in with the pancakes. Sin showed her how to flip the pancake in the air and make it land in the pan, while Ava taught her how to make a smoothie that they sipped on while cooking. Soon they had a breakfast feast.

Ava was glad to have this time with Sin, seeing them like this was slightly different than how they acted in the classroom. Ava loved being their teacher, but she knew that if things with Sara were going to continue, it would mean that Sin would have to be transferred to another classroom. She didn't want to compromise herself and treat Sin differently, because she was seeing Sin after school and dating their mother.

Even though she knew Nate's classroom would be the most logical choice, as his class was the smallest, Ava worried that with Gary being an almost sibling, Sin would be transferred to the other 4th grade classroom. Her co-teacher was older and had old fashioned methods that Ava knew wouldn't work well for Sin.

But they didn't have to worry about that now, and hopefully she could maintain her composure until she could successfully transfer Sin to Nate's class, or wait it out to the end of the year.

Sara woke up with someone else's foot kicking her thigh, and carefully turned away so she wouldn't get a kick to the belly, but nearly fell off the bed and rolled over to lay on her back. She opened her eyes to see that it was Gary starfishing that forced her to the edge of the bed. She tilted her ear towards the kitchen, and she heard Ava and Sin talking, and the sounds of the frying pan going. Their happy conversation and easy banter made Sara smile. She carefully moved Gary's leg over and tried to catch an extra hour of shut eye.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, as their other child's presence meant that the snack and the late dinner Sara had last night bubbled up in her throat. Sara made a run for the bathroom and slammed the door behind her, not wanting anyone else to follow. She had forgotten how sick she had got while pregnant, and this time around didn't seem like it would be any easier. Ava knocked on the door, but Sara didn't want Ava fawning over her and sent Ava away.

After her stomach settled, Sara took the opportunity to pee and wash her face. When she was done, she opened the door to see Gary waiting for her.

"Hey, did you need to use the bathroom?"

"No," he said, just looking up at her. "Are you sick?"

"No, not really."

"But you were throwing up? That means you're sick?"

"Yeah, but I think it's just because I ate too much popcorn last night," Sara said, trying to brush it off.

"Don't worry, Doctor Sharpe M.D. is on the case!" Gary said, and Sara could do little to protest as he led her back to the living room.

Gary quickly ran off and grabbed Sin's doctor kit. Sin didn't really play with it, so Sara usually kept it in their closet, but Gary must have found it last night. He also got out a few packs of stickers and the real first aid kit that he said was in Ava's bag. Soon enough, Sara had a giant frowning sticker on her stomach, a band aid on her arm after she got a shot, and a thumbs up sticker on her shirt, for being a good patient.

Gary was currently checking her temperature and her blood pressure at the same time, while dressed in the cute little doctor's coat, with the stethoscope around his neck and his headlamp flashlight on his head.

"So you must like playing doctor, Gary."

"Shhh," he shushed her, adjusting the thermometer in her mouth. "You're not supposed to talk while I'm taking your temperature."

Sara just nodded very seriously and he continued.

"Yeah, I like being a doctor," he said, as he looked very seriously at the blood pressure cuff. "I don't like it when I feel sick, so I like to help people and make them feel better."

He finally took the thermometer out of her mouth and the blood pressure off of her arm. He looked at the results and pulled out his clipboard, making a few notes that Sara leaned over to read.

"Is doctor second place to magic though?" Sara asked, scratching at the band aid on her arm.

"Yeah, but I don't want to be a doctor, they have to go to school forever, and Mr. Constantine said I could have a job there when I'm a teenager, and that's only five years away. But, for now, I like doing both, and Mama said I'd make a very good magician."

Sara smiled as he rambled a little bit, so much like Ava in his professional and logical thinking.

They played for the rest of the morning, and Sara enjoyed getting to know more about Gary and his magician ambitions while Ava and Sin cooked breakfast. Once they sat down to eat, Ava sat next to her and Sara reached over to hold her hand under the table. This whole thing had gone extremely well, and Sara was surprised at how easily their lives had fit together. Ava was all in, and so was she. They were doing this, and although she knew it wouldn't always be this easy, she relished in the fact that in this moment it was.


	6. We All Fall Down

"Hey," Amaya said as they came into the bakery like a warm flame. She brushed the late spring rain off of her hair and looked back at Zari with a smile.

"Hey," Kendra said, she stopped kneading the dough on the table and went over to wash her hands. "Guys time to go!"

"Kuasa and Behrad are waiting in the car," Zari said as she shrugged off her coat.

Sin and Hector quickly ran and wheeled out from the office, and out the back door with a quick hello and goodbye.

"Hey, slow down you two," Kendra said, chasing them out. "Oh, the pies are in the oven and the timer's on the cake fridge."

"Thanks Kendra," Amaya said as she tossed Kendra the keys to her car, where Behrad and Kuasa were waiting.

"See you soon," Kendra waved, shutting the door and sealing off the cool bakery from the warm almost summer morning.

Amaya sent Zari a warm smile as she walked over to the sink. Amaya grabbed her apron and tied it around her waist then quickly washed her hands and took up Kendra's spot, rolling out the dough for the pastries. Zari didn't realize she had lingered and stared at her until Amaya paused to look up at Zari.

"I'll get going on the sales stuff," Zari said, as she tripped over her words and her feet and walked into the office.

Sara's desk was empty, but Zari saw her lounging on the couch. There were several of the sales revenue and expense documents on her lap and her laptop sitting on the table.

"Hey Sara, how's it going?" Zari said, putting down her satchel on her desk and pulling out her own laptop.

She looked over when Sara didn't respond to see that her eyes were closed and her lips slightly parted.

"Asleep on the job again?" Zari asked, the first time it was fine, but now it was a daily occurrence and although neither she nor Amaya had said anything, they were both concerned for her.

Sara had developed an allergy to something and was trying to figure out what it was. So far she had stopped taste testing for Amaya and Kendra and changed her diet, but with no luck. Sara was still getting sick regularly and her allergy meds made her sleepy.

Zari was useless when it came to doing anything related to money on her own. So she pulled up their online orders, filtered through client emails, and double checked the calendar. Soon, Amaya finished the morning baking and Zari helped her open the store. When Kendra returned, Sara woke up and they all went over the expenses, new orders, and one very special order.

"I was thinking of having a three tiered Kente cloth cake. One layer will be blue and yellow to match my dress, and then another in green and gold to match yours, and then the third will be white piped frosting with a floral design. I haven't really worked out the details yet, but I have this quick sketch I've been working on," Amaya said, pulling out her drawing pad and flipping to the page where she had sketched out her wedding cake. "What do you think, Zari?"

Zari looked down at the cake drawing. It was beautiful, the striped design of blue and yellow were simple and clean, the green and gold where are intricate and detailed and the white was elegant. It was a beautiful mix of both of their cultures and everything Amaya had always dreamed of. "I think it looks amazing!"

"Did you want to add any certain designs or details?" Amaya asked, looking up at her.

"Not really," Zari said with a shrug. "I know how much this cake means to you, so you should have your dream cake. I know it will be beautiful."

Zari looked over at Amaya, her eyes turned soft and Amaya tilted her head as she gazed at Zari. Zari had always thought it was so embarrassing when Kendra or Sara would get that lovestruck look, but as she watched the way Amaya smiled at her. Zari couldn't believe she was so naive. The look her lover gave her was one Zari would always treasure and that soft smile that easily formed on Zari's face was one she would proudly wear. Zari was in love, head over heels, heart before head in love, and despite everything that was going on, Zari was so excited to be marrying Amaya.

Kendra and Sara both exchanged a look as they watched their friends dissolve into each other's eyes, and Sara shook her head. "Okay well, we've got a lot to do today, especially with the bookkeeping. So Zari are you coming or are you going to stay here and make heart eyes at Amaya?"

"Oh please, like you two don't make heart eyes at your SO's" Zari said, looking pointedly at her friends as she broke away from Amaya's gaze.

Sara and Kendra just exchanged another look and a chuckle as they both went back to their work. Zari looked back at Amaya, who had turned her eyes to the floor and blushed a deep red. She decided to swoop in and plant a kiss on Amaya's cheek because she could and Zari knew it would make her smile. It did, and Amaya looked up at her with a spark in her eyes. She pulled Zari in for a proper kiss, letting her lips convey her joy.

"Is it going to be like this all the time?" Kendra said, with a teasing smile once they broke apart.

Amaya just giggled and walked out to the counter as the front doorbell rang and Zari returned into the office. There would be time to we all lovey-dovey with Amaya later.

Sara smiled as Zari came in and raised her eyebrows up and down at her in a very suggestive way. Zari laughed, and just playfully tossed a folder over at Sara, although she easily caught it due to her ninja-like reflexes.

"You two are just too cute," Sara said as she settled back down on the couch and started to look over the documents in front of her.

"Oh, please, as if you and Ava aren't just as bad," Zari retorted, as she sat down next to her.

"Yeah," Sara said, adopting the same lovey-dovey look that Zari had just had across her features. She stared down at her stomach and absentmindedly put a hand on her belly.

"What, did Ava buy you breakfast or something?" Zari asked, noting her friend's strange behavior.

Sara immediately looked up and moved her hand away from her belly, before pulling her laptop back on to her lap and continuing her work. "Yeah, something like that."

Zari eyed her friend, something was clearly going on between Sara and Ava. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Sara smiled and bit her lip trying to hide it, she had always been a terrible liar. "Well, technically Ava and Sin made us breakfast because Ava and Gary slept over last night."

"Again?" Zari asked, knowing that it had become a regular occurrence for Ava and Gary to sleeping over. "And on a school night too, wow!"

"Shut up," Sara said, elbowing her side. "Like you and Amaya aren't having sleepovers of your own."

"Yeah, but we're not sleeping together."

"You're not?" Sara said, taking on a serious tone.

"We were going to," Zari said, looking down at her laptop rather than over at Sara. "But I stopped. It's just not something I wanted to do yet and Amaya understands that."

"That's fine," Sara said like it wasn't a big deal and Zari smiled at her. She was grateful for that, knowing her friend's views on sex were different than her own. "I know how important that aspect of your religion is to you and I know how much Amaya loves you, and I'm glad she respects that."

"She does," Zari said, looking down again, but this time it was to hide her blush. "She's perfect."

"I know the feeling." Sara giggled and it only made Zari blush harder.

"Shut up," Zari said, playfully, not really meaning it.

"All right, I'll go back to our work," Sara said looking down at her computer. "But for the record, I'm really happy for you two."

"I'm happy for you and Ava too," Zari said, Sara looked up to catch her eye and smile at her. Zari returned her smile and then they both resumed their work.

* * *

Amaya looked through the racks of wedding dresses in search of something perfect. She had always dreamed of having a big poofy wedding dress as a child, now her tastes were more in line with a simple a-line dress. Although, she would have her white wedding dress she planned on changing into a beautiful blue and yellow traditional African dress, that paid honor to her heritage.

Zari had decided to wear a traditional green Salwar Kameez dress and although she hadn't seen it she knew from the one's Zari had worn before that it would be beautiful and elaborate. The shop they were in was a typical American bridal shop while Zari and Behrad were next door at a place that had both Arab and American style men's formal clothing.

Amaya had dreamed of a fairy tale wedding as a child. Now she was more inclined to incorporate some of her own African traditions into the ceremony and reception. She and Zari had planned to have their wedding be a mix of tradition with a Qazi and a nikah ceremony, and of course a broom. Amaya has never been particularly religious, but she knew how important faith was to Zari.

"What about this one?" Sara asked as she held up a dress with a lace bodice and a pleated skirt.

The look on Amaya's face must have told her everything because Sara raised her eyebrows and bites her lip as she put it back. "Okay then. What about this one?"

The next dress was just as unappealing as the first one Sara suggested. It had the skirt she wanted but, with a cute little strapless sweetheart neckline that Amaya was not so fond of.

"No," Amaya sighed, she went back to looking through some of the dresses. She found one that she liked, with the long skirt and low cute, but was slightly out of her price range and pulled it out.

"Oh that one looks nice," Sara said, as she looked over the dress.

"Yeah, I guess," Amaya said as she looked at it again.

"It looks stupid," Kausa said, from her place setting on the couch near by, her arms crossed as she pouted.

Amaya turned to look at Kuasa, she had been in a foul mood since they arrived at the dress store. Amaya knew that this was a big change for both kids. They had decided to just give them the time they needed to express themselves and their anger, to a point.

"Kuasa, that's a mean word and we don't use mean words," Amaya said to her.

Kuasa gave a huge sigh and slid back into the couch. "Fine, I'm sorry."

"I think you look really pretty, Auntie Amaya," Hector said, from his spot in his wheelchair next to Kuasa. All of the kids were there as well so they could get fitted for tuxes and look for dresses.

"I agree, but I think that these ones would be much better suited for you," Kendra said as she walked up, holding a few dresses for Amaya to see with a few more in on a rack led by one of the bridal assistants.

"See I told you Kendra's got the magic touch," Sara said, she saw Amaya's face when she looked at the dresses. They all looked absolutely perfect, but Amaya was drawn to the one in Kendra's arms, with short sleeves and a v-neck decorated with lace.

"It's beautiful," Amaya agreed, she took the dress and held it out. She put it up against her frame with one hand and pulled out the skirt to see it around her. she knew before trying it on that it was the one.

Amaya looked up to see Kendra and Sara smiling mostly in ah of the dress. She turned to show it off to Kuasa and Hector, who sat up in his wheelchair and lean forward to see the dress better, his eyes wide and full of wonder. Kuasa just chewed on her lip and looked down and at her purple converse shoes.

"What do you think, little one?" Amaya asked her.

Kuasa didn't respond, she just continued to look down at her shoes, the laces had come undone as she picked at the strings.

"Well, what do you think about this dress Kuasa?" Kendra said, holding up a white flower girl dress with no sleeves and a long skirt with lace on the top, similar to the dress Amaya was holding.

"I'm thinking of a mean word," Kuasa said bitterly as she continued to look down at her shoes and pulled at her while laces.

Amaya sighed and dropped the hem of the dress.

"I'm just going to go check on Zari and the other kids," Sara said, clapping her hands together. "Kuasa, why don't you come with me?"

"No."

"Why don't you go try on your dress?" Kendra said, smiling at Amaya, clearly trying to pretend that everything was alright.

Amaya just nodded and followed the assistant to the dressing room. She knew this would be tough for Kuasa and she wished she could explain it all in a way that could make her understand. Though the one thing she had learned since she adopted Kuasa, was that kids didn't always understand adults' reasoning. Sometimes all Amaya could do was let her accept things in her own time.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the other end of the store, Zari adjusted Behrad's Taqiyah. Behrad just looked straight past her shoulder with a blank look that he had had the entire time they had been in the store.

Zari patted his shoulder and smoothed his Kurta. "You look so handsome, Behrad joon."

Behrad just set his jaw and looked down.

"How do I look Auntie Zari?" Sin said, strutting out of the dressing room adorably proud in their suit.

"You look handsome as well Sin," Zari said as she stood up and looked over them, Sin struck a poise and Zari couldn't help but giggle and smiled at them.

Sin walked over to Behrad and stood next to him, standing tall and proud as they posed. They looked over at Behrad and he broke his stone facade to smile at them as well. Sin took his hand and swung it around, pretending to dance.

"Oh, you look so handsome!" Sara exclaimed as she walked up to them.

"I know," Zari added.

Sara went up to Sin and crouched down to put her hand on their shoulders. She looked at them and straightened it out their jacket and buttoned it. Tears collected in Sara's eyes as she just looked at Sin and she put one hand over her mouth as a sob came out.

"Oh Mom, don't cry!" Sin insisted as they hugged Sara.

"It's okay," Sara insisted as she brushed away the tears and Zuri hastily found a tissue box and handed it over. Sara gave her a look of thanks and smiled. "You just look so much like your father."

Zari smiled, it was true, Sin was the spitting image of Leonard in their suit. They looked exactly like Leonard had on their wedding day, and Zari knew it was bringing up some hard feelings for Sara.

"Do I look like my Baba?" Behrad asked, looking up at Zari.

"No," Zari said, with a playful smile as she scratched his hair. "Baba had much less hair."

"Stop it," Behrad insisted harshly as he frowned and pushed her hand away.

Zari took a step back and watched as he ran off to the dressing room. She didn't know why everything she said just seemed to have the opposite effect. Zari looked over at Sara and wondered what she should do. Sara and Sin were completely oblivious to what had happened as they sat together on the couch. Sara was still crying, the tears silently falling down her cheeks and she was telling Sin about Leonard. Zari decided not to interrupt their moment and go try to talk to Behrad.

Zari could hear him crying from the entrance to the dressing rooms and one of the bridal assistants was there knocking on the door.

"It's okay, I got it," Zari said to him.

"Poor little guy," he said, with a little frown. "Sometimes these things are hard for kids."

Zari nodded and waited for him to leave before she knocked on the door.

"Behrad? May I come in?"

"No," Behrad shouted at her.

Zari sighed and slid down the wall to sit on the floor. She peeked under the dressing room door to see him curled up, crying into his knees. It broke her heart, she felt guilty that she wasn't able to make him feel better and that it was her fault he was upset.

"I'm sorry," Zari said, waiting to see if he'd respond. "I didn't mean to make you upset, honestly. I was just trying to joke with you, but I'm sorry.

"Why do we have to do this, why can't we just go back to our apartment? ICE is gone, we can go back to how things were."

Zari closed her eyes as the tears collected in her eyelashes. She wished she had a simple answer, she wished she could go back to how things were too. She didn't want Behrad to live illegally as she did, and she felt like she failed in protecting him from that.

"I wish we could go home too."

Behrad grew quiet and she heard him crawl over towards her. Zari just waited until he unlocked the door and opened it just enough to peek out.

Zari looked over at him and continued. "I wish we could go back to the way things were. I wish Maman and Baba were here to be your parents and not me. They did a better job than I've ever done and I'm sorry I haven't been a good parent to you."

"But you're not my parents, you're my sister. I don't want another Maman, I want my Maman."

"I know, I want Maman too" Zari gestured for him to come over and he crawled over to sit next to her as she put her arm around him. They sat for a moment and Zari just held him. She knew what it was like to just want you Maman and she wished she could give her to him.

"Can you be my sister again?" Behrad asked, looking up at her.

"I think I can be your sister again. There are times when I'll have to be your parent, but I think we can find a balance. What would you like me to do if I was your sister again?"

"I want you to play with me like you used to. You go to the park with me, but you just sit there with Amaya and talk. That's boring and I want you to let me stay up all night playing video games like we used to. I want to go home, to the home we lived in with Maman and Baba."

Zari took a deep breath, thinking about it. She hadn't been a good sister, nor a good parent to Behrad, she hadn't been as involved in his life as she was before.

"Well I don't know about playing video games all night," Zari said smiling and poking his arm. He smiled and returned the poke with one to her stomach. "But I promise to play with you more at the park and to play more video games with you on the weekends."

Behrad nodded and smiled, but then looked down at his feet again and seemed to withdraw from her. "But what about going home?"

Zari thought about their childhood home. She had moved out a year before her parents died and after they died, she had just left the family home untouched. Her parents had paid off the mortgage and Zari kept up with the yearly taxes, but it largely sat empty in the suburbs. Yet, Zari missed her childhood home as painful as it was to be there.

It was big enough for our four of them and much larger than Amaya's cramped apartment, but Zari didn't want to displace them either. Living there would also mean moving Amaya and Kuasa, and they would have to agree to it. It wasn't something she could decide on her own; they had to decide together.

"I miss being home too," Zari said, she didn't want to make a promise she couldn't keep, but there was something she could do. "How about this? You and I can go back to the house and see it. Then we'll talk to Amaya and if she agrees then we can move back into the house. If not, maybe we can find a bigger apartment for all four of us."

"There's plenty of space for Amaya and Kuasa. Why wouldn't they want to live there?" Behrad asked, tentatively feeling out the answer.

"They have their own place. We're getting married and we have to compromise and agree on where to live together as we're a family. Though, that doesn't mean that you and Kuasa don't get a say in this."

"But Amaya's place is so small."

"Yes, but that's their home. How do you think Kuasa would feel if she had to live at our place rather than at her home?" Zari said, tilting her head and talking to him, hoping that he would understand. "For now you and I can go back to the house and we'll talk to Amaya and Kuasa and see how they feel about living there too?"

"Okay," Behrad said with a smile on his face. "Thank you Zari."

He reached over and hugged her for what felt like the first time in months and Zari hugged him back and held him tightly. Even if it was temporary Zari knew that she'd made the right decision and that being at home would be good for the both of them.

* * *

After Amaya tried on the dress, she knew that it was the one. She paid for the dress and met with the seamstress who got the alterations started. They still hadn't picked out a dress for Kuasa given her sour mood and Amaya decided to give up and fight it another day.

She waited outside in the car for Zari to come out and waved to Hector and Kendra as they left the parking lot. Eventually, Sara, Sin, Behrad, and Zari came out of the shop. They said goodbye to Sara and Sin before heading off towards the car. Zari and Behrad had matching smiles and Zari had her arm around his shoulders. It was the happiest Amaya had seen them in months and she smiled that they got in.

"I take it that the suit shopping went well," Amaya said as she pulled out of the parking lot.

"It did," Zari said, turning her smile towards Amaya. "Although there were a few tears."

"Yeah, Aunt Sara cried," Behrad said, as if it was a matter of fact, as he clicked his seatbelt.

"What, Sara was crying?" Amaya asked, quickly looking over at Zari.

"Yeah," Zari confirmed with a sad smile. "Apparently Sin looked just like Leonard had at their wedding."

"Oh," Amaya said, looking over at Zari as they stopped at a red light.

"Yeah," Zari said, returning her sad smile. "Also Behrad and I were talking, and we wanted to talk to you about our living situation."

"What about it?" Amaya asked as glancing over at her.

"Behrad wants to move back into my parent's house and I think it would be a good idea. There's more room for all four of us and Behrad needs to be home."

Amaya thought about it as she drove through the streets. She's been living in her apartment for the past few months since she had gotten Kuasa, having traded out the one-bedroom space above the bakery for the two bedroom apartment. With Zari and Behrad she knew they needed a bigger space to accommodate all four of them.

The move wouldn't mean changing schools, their commute to the bakery would actually be shorter, and it would be a bigger space for all of them. It was an actual home, with a yard and a pool. It was more than she could ever give Kuasa on her own. She knew how attached Zari and Behrad were to the house. It was their childhood home and if Zari said that they needed to be there, then they did.

"Well, I think it's a good idea," Amaya said, glancing over at Zari at another red light. "We can talk about it more later."

"Yeah," Behrad said as he sat up and wiggled in his seat. "My bed is still there. Zari can we sleep in the house tonight?"

"I don't know about tonight, but we'll go over to the house and see if anything needs to be fixed," Zari said, smiling as she looked black at him.

Amaya smiled and looked over at them again and watched them smile and talk back and forth lightheartedly about the house. But she waited to speak to Zari again until they had gotten home and the kids had run off to play.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do? Amaya asked Zari as she glanced over at her as they went into the kitchen and started gathering the ingredients for dinner.

"Yes, and it doesn't change anything about you and me. This is something I want to do for Behrad," Zari said, looking over at her earnestly as she took some of the vegetables to wash. Amaya knew what she meant. Their lives weren't just about themselves anymore, they had to do things for the kids and put their well-being above their own wants.

"But are you okay with this? I know how hard it's been for you to be at your parent's house," Amaya said, pausing from where she stood the counter to look over at Zari.

"It's going to be hard," Zari said, pausing as she ran a head of broccoli under the water. "But, I'm ready."

"Okay," Anaya said, smiling and reaching over to take one of zari's hands and giving it a squeeze.

"This is gonna be so cool. We have a fireplace and a pool and a huge backyard and Zari said that you and Amaya can move in too," Behrad said as he walked back into the kitchen with Kuasa silently following him.

"I said that Amaya and Kuasa could move in if they wanted to," Zari said, stressing the last part. "It's not up to us Behrad, is up to them."

"Well, I want to be where you are," Amaya said, giving Zari's hand an extra squeeze. "And from what I remember, your parent's house is big enough for all four of us. I'd be happy to move in with you."

"What!" Kuasa shouted.

"Kuasa volume please," Amaya pleated as everyone grimaced as she screamed.

"I don't want to move!" Kuasa continued to scream.

"Kuasa if you continue to shout, you will go straight to your room," Amaya said as Zari let go of her hand to cover her ears and Behrad did the same.

"Why should I go to my room?" Kuasa yelled, pointing down the hall. "You never make Behrad go to his room because he doesn't have a room, he's sleeping in mine."

"Kausa, I know this has been difficult for you, but you cannot continue to shout in the apartment, we have neighbors," Amaya insisted with a firm voice.

"Why it's not like you haven't already grounded me," Kuasa insisted.

Amaya sighed, she was at her wit's end with this. Kuasa had been moody and snarky and disrespectful for weeks and nothing Amaya did or said, curbed the behavior. She had taken away all of her privileges, grounded her, and nothing worked. It only seemed to make it worse, and now Kuasa had nothing to lose.

Seeing Amaya grow quiet and trying to figure out what to do, Kuasa ran out of the room and down the hall.

"Kuasa," Amaya called out to her and quickly ran after her.

"Stop just stop it! You never listen to me!" Kuasa screamed at her as she ran into her room.

Kuasa was right, she hadn't been listening to her instead, she had just told her to be quiet. Amaya knew that Kuasa didn't want to move into the house with Zari and Behrad, but she didn't listen and just shouted at her.

Amaya looked back at Zari and Behrad, who were both standing quietly in the kitchen.

"You know what," Zari said, drying her hands off with a dish towel and grabbing her keys. "Right now might be a good time to go see the house. Why don't we go and you and Kuasa can talk?"

"Yeah," Berhad said, jumping with excitement and running to grab his coat and shoes.

"Thank you," Amaya said, nodding at her as Zari and Behrad left, but not before giving her a smile and a nod.

Amaya turned and took a deep breath as she walked down the hall. She was done shouting, she was done fighting, and she was done not listening to Kuasa. She knocked on the door, but Kuasa didn't respond.

"Kuasa can I come in?" Amaya asked as she opened the door. "I want to talk to you."

Kuasa didn't look up as Amaya peeked into the room. Amaya took another deep breath as she walked in and stood in the doorway.

"I'm sorry," Amaya said.

Kuasa whipped around and threw a look over at Amaya, her eyebrows knitting together.

"What?" Kuasa asked, her voice full of surprise.

"I'm sorry I never listen to you, I'm sorry I made you feel like you can't talk to me, because I don't want that. I want you to feel heard when you talk to me and I'm sorry you haven't been, but I'm here now and I'm willing to listen."

As Amaya said all of this, she sat down on the floor. She tucked her knees under her and held her hands on her lap as she looked up at Kuasa. Waiting for her to take it all in.

Kuasa was still breathing heavily from her anger, but her fist unclenched. Her breathing became easier as she slowly sank down and sat on the bed. Kuasa put her hands in her lap and looked down at them.

"I don't want you to get married to Zari and I don't want to move to their house," Kuasa said quietly, looking up at her.

"So you don't want me to get married or to have to move in with Zari and Behrad?"

"Yeah," Kausa said quietly as she fidgeted with her fingers.

Amaya just nodded and let things lapse into silence for a moment to think about what to say to her, knowing that she couldn't change what was happening.

"But you're still gonna get married," Kuasa said finally looked up at her.

"Yes," Amaya said, nodding and giving her a sad smile.

"Why," Kuasa asked earnestly. "Why are you getting married?"

Amaya could see the tension rising in her voice again and calmly tried to respond. It was time for the truth. She knew her lies would only hurt and that Kuasa deserved the truth.

"Because if I don't, then Zari is going to be deported and Behrad will be all alone."

"Oh," Kuasa said in a quiet little voice as she looked down at her hands.

"Do you remember the day that Zari came over with Behrad crying and then we had everyone else over and talked about grown up things in the kitchen?" Amaya asked, getting up and going over to sit next to Kuasa on the bed.

"Yeah."

"We were discussing Zari's options for citizenship. Zari and I agreed later that day that a marriage would be the fastest and easiest way to get her green card. I do love Zari very much, but this is one of the reasons why we're getting married, and why she and Behrad moved in with us."

It wasn't the full truth, but Kuasa didn't need to be frightened by ICE. Amaya took a breath and she looked up at Kuasa, wondering how much she was absorbing. She seemed to understand, but Amaya knew that it didn't make anything easier.

"I know that this has been really hard on you. I know that the whole year has been nothing but hard. I know you miss your parents and I miss them too," Amaya said, as tears welled up in her eyes and her voice became strained. "And if there is anything I can do to make this easier for you, I'll try. I'm trying, Kuasa, I just want you to be happy and healthy, and okay."

"I miss Mama and Baba. I just want to go home."

As she spoke Kuasa began to cry, big fat tears streaming down her face as her shoulders shook with sobs.

"I know," Amaya said, through tears of her own, wrapping both of her arms around Kuasa and pulling her onto her lap. "I know you miss your Mama and Baba too."

They both cry with tears and snot dripping down their noses. Amaya grabbed the tissue box. They both used up the entire box and the tissues collected on the floor. Amaya and Kuasa rested against the headboard of her bed. They sat for what seemed like hours until finally there were no tears left to cry.

Amaya wiped Kuasa's face with the last tissue and grabbed the photo of Kuasa, Esi, and Jafari. She put it in Kuasa's lap and traced their faces with her finger. Kuasa uncurled from her side and looked at the picture.

"Did you know that your Mama and Baba spent a whole year trying to find the perfect house to buy. They wanted you to have the perfect home," Amaya said with a sad smile as she remembered their seemingly endless house hunting.

"They did?"

"Yes,"

"Jafari made your cradle too because he wanted you to be safe and have a good place to sleep. They used to stay up all night watching over you. You were so loved Kuasa and they were so happy to have you."

Kuasa smiled and took the picture from Amaya's hand, looking at the three of them together. Kuasa was just a baby and was giggling in Esi's lap. Jafari had his arm around them, looking so fondly over at his girls. Amaya had been the one to take the picture that day. The four of them had played at the park all day before finally having a picnic in the summer sun.

"I wish we could play at the park together again," Kuasa said, looking fondly down at the photo. "You never play with me, you're always with Zari."

It was at that moment that it clicked in Amaya's head. One of the reasons why Kuasa had been so angry and hurt was because Amaya had pulled away from her and was spending more time with Zari.

"I'm sorry," Amaya said, brushing her braids back. "I didn't mean to neglect you. If you'd like we could go to the park tomorrow just the two of us and we can go see your parent's graves."

"Can we bring them flowers and Mama's favorite bread and Baba's favorite coffee?" Kuasa asked, turning in her arms to look up at Amaya.

"I think they like that very much," Amaya smiled.

They sat together for a moment, and then Kuasa turned around and slipped out of Amaya's arms.

"Are we still going to move in with Zari and Behrad?" Kuasa asked, and Amaya took a deep breath as she tried to find the words to explain things in a way that wouldn't undo the progress they had made.

"Zari and I need to live together, at least until Zari can get her green card. I know that's not what you want to hear and that you don't want to have to move again. It's not fair to you, with all these sudden changes, so we can take it slowly, and I won't make you move right away. If you'd like we can go over to the house and just look at it and help Zari and Behrad move in."

Kuasa nodded and seemed to accept her answer then, looking up at her curiously. "Is it true that they have a pool?"

"Yep and it's heated so we could use it year round and you could go swimming all the time," Amaya said trying to seem nonchalant and not appear to sway Kuasa.

Kuasa gave her a little smile that she tried to hide by biting her lip. "I guess we could go over and look."

"We could do that now if you want. Zari and Behrad are there now."

Kuasa shrugged and then looked down at her hands again and the Amaya knew that there was still something else on her mind.

"Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?" Amaya asked.

"I don't want to wear a dress. I want a suit like Sin's wearing," Kuasa said, looking down and playing with her hands.

Amaya smiled and took Kuasa's hands in her own. "Okay, well go get you a suit."

Kuasa seemed so relieved at that and smiled so big and Amaya couldn't believe that she didn't realize that was what Kuasa wanted. Kuasa launched herself at Amaya and laughed and hugged her.

"I love you Kuasa, I want you to know that."

"I love you too, Nana Ba."

Amaya laughed and retaliated by tickling the girl's sides as she fell into giggles and returning with wiggly fingers of her own. They fell on the bed laughing as they had a tickle fight that ended when Kuasa got up.

"Can we go see the pool now?"

"Yes we can," Amaya said as she got up and followed Kuasa out the door.


	7. Hickory Dickory Dock

"Okay that goes up to Zari's bedroom and those boxes can go into the kitchen," Sara instructed Mick, Ray, and Nate and pointed up the stairs for them to carry the parts of Zari's bed frame. Sara stood in the entryway at the bottom of the stairs as she directed traffic for the move-in process.

"Remind me who put you in charge of this?" Zari asked as she set down the box she was carrying.

"Well someone's got to make sure you don't set up your closet in the living room," Sara said, pointing her toe at the box Zari had just sent down, which was clearly labeled 'Zari's clothing.' "And Amaya said I could."

Zari just rolled her eyes and picked up the box again. Making a note to go find Amaya as she walked upstairs.

It had been a few weeks since she had agreed to move and they had spent the majority of the time going through old things, packing, and cleaning. They had agreed to keep some of their parents' old furniture with a few touches of their new things.

It was hard for Zari to see the old furniture and everything reminded her of them, but once she started adding her things to the house it made things easier. They only had to move in a few pieces of big furniture, such as beds and desks, as the majority of what they had were in boxes. Zari was surprised that she didn't want much of her furniture and was in the process of selling or giving it away to anyone who needed it. As she trudged her way up the stairs Behrad and Sin came running down the stairs almost barreling right into her.

"Hey you two are supposed to stay in Behrad's room and unpack," Zari said, readjusted the box in her arms. "You two nearly knocked me over and we don't want you guys getting trampled with the big furniture."

"But we already unpacked all of my stuff," Behrad said, with a shrug. "Can't we help somewhere else?"

"Okay, fine, but stay out of the way of the big furniture," Zari said, moving to let them pass.

"Okay," Sin said as they ran past her.

"And no running," Sara shouted at them before Zari could.

Sara and Zari both exchanged a look with knowing smiles as Zari shook her head. Zara trudged up the stairs and heard Sara bark orders at Ava and Kendra as they brought in more boxes. When she reached the top of the stairs, Amaya came out of one of the rooms and met Zari with her winning smile.

"Do you want me to take that into your room?" Amaya asked, already taking the box from Zari's arms.

"Thank you," Zari said, gratefully handing it over. "Hey, did you tell Sara she could direct traffic, instead of helping out?"

"Yeah, she said she wasn't feeling that great, but she did bring Ava with her to help out. Besides, we do need someone to make sure everything goes where it's supposed to, why?"

"Oh, I think the power is going to her head a little bit," Zari smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm sure you can keep her in check," Amaya smirked back. "How about you and I drop off this box together and you can help me put my clothes away?"

Amaya smiled and her eyes had that beautiful sparkle and Zari took a moment to appreciate Amaya's brilliant eyes. Ever since they had started the move in process and as they each committed to spending more time with the kids, there hadn't been much time left for them to be alone and Zari missed being around just Amaya.

"Zari?"

"Yeah, lead the way," Zari said, ducking her head and blushing a deep red.

Amaya licked her lips and giggled as she turned around and led Zari down the hall. Zari knew that they would most likely just end up making out for a while and eagerly followed her.

"Hey guys," Lita said, coming out and walking up to them with her hands in her pockets, and the glow between them faded. "Can Kuasa and Hector set up a video game since we're all done getting Behrad moved in?"

"Yeah, but could you supervise Behrad and Sin? They want to help with the moving, but I don't want them to get hurt by the big furniture pieces," Zari said pointing down the hall to where they had run off.

"Yeah no problem," Lita said with a shrug and a smile.

"Thank you for babysitting Lita," Amaya added with a nod as Lita popped back into the room, to let Kuasa and Hector know what was going on.

Once Lita had scampered down the stairs, Amaya sent Zari another sultry smile and swayed her hips as she walked down the hall. Zari followed her like a puppy and the second she set the box down, Zari put her hands on her hips and twirled Amaya towards her. They smiled at each other before leaning in and pressing their lips against one another. Zari sighed as she relaxed into the kiss and Amaya wrapped her arms around Zari's neck.

"Zari!" Sara yelled at her from down the stairs.

Zari sighed again, but this time in frustration and Amaya pulled away from her. "We should probably go see what she wants?"

"Whatever it is, it's not important enough to drag me away from you," Zari said as she chased Amaya's lips and kissed her again.

"Zari, your lawyer is here to speak with you!"

That broke them apart. They hurried down the stairs to see Laurel waiting for them with a stack of papers in her arms. Laurel and Sara both had a somber look across their face and Amaya reached out to squeeze Zari's hand as they walked the rest of the way down the stairs.

"What's this about?" Zari asked as she stepped off the bottom step.

Laurel looked around at everyone as they were still moving things in and walking around the house. "Is there somewhere we can speak privately?"

Zari nodded for Laurel to follow her and walked over to her father's old library. As a child, her father would work in his study and Zari would play on the rug. He was quite the book collector and many of the books were in Arabic. Her father made sure she and Behrad knew how to speak and read in Arabic and carry on the cultural traditions. Zari hadn't stepped foot in the room yet and didn't have any plans to change it. It was exactly as she remembered it as she opened the door and led Laurel in.

Laurel looked around the room and Zari offered her one of the chairs next to the desk. Laurel put the papers down on the coffee table between them and pulled out a few documents getting right to it.

"When I took on your case I did a little digging and contacted someone I knew in ICE, in order to find the report made against you. The report was made anonymously, but they included your home address and your work address. I thought something was off about how they knew where you lived and where you worked. I got a copy of the phone call and I think, I should play it for you."

Laurel pulled out her phone and looked up at her, Zari just nodded and Laurel hit play.

"Hello, I have a concern about someone illegally living and working here in Star City. Their name is Zari Tomaz and they live at 108A Orange Street, Star City, and work at Jewi's Bakery over on 140th Street."

Zari's jaw fell open, she was shocked to hear Damien Darhk's voice on the call as he listed off her address. He began to say a few other unkind and down white racist things about her, but Laurel hurried to end the recording and put her phone away.

"I'm sure you can guess as to who it was, but unfortunately I can't legally be sure that it was Damien Darhk. By reporting you he violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act but without proof, he can't be prosecuted. I had one of our private detectives trace the phone call, but it just led to a dead end burner phone. In the meantime, all I can do is suggest that you stay away from the school as much as possible. I would also suggest that you transfer Behrad to a different school as well. I have no reason to believe that another report to ICE won't be made if you file a change of address with the school."

As Laurel spoke she looked over at Zari who just noted as she took everything in. She wasn't sure what else she could do. Especially if, as Laurel said, they had no proof.

"But I can't take Behrad out of that school. It's the best one in the district and I can't afford the private school fees," Zari said standing up as she began to pace the room.

"I'm so sorry Zari. I know how difficult this is for you and that you don't want to sacrifice Behrad's education," Laurel said, shaking her head. "I'm going to keep our detective on it to see if we can try and prove Darhk broke the law. Though at this point there's nothing I can do other than continue with your green card papers from your marriage. Until then you need to lay low and have no contact with Darhk or the school."

"But what am I supposed to do about Behrad? Amaya and the others have been dropping him off and picking him up, but the school keeps harassing them for a change of address or questions about my whereabouts. They've even threatened to call CPS."

"I'll draft a statement for the school and assure them that you're still providing for Behrad, without giving them your new address. That should at least get you through the end of the year. However, they'll want an address for you and your confirmation that you're still his guardian for next year, but then we'll have things in order for your green card."

Zari sat back down at the chair and looked around the room. It represented the kind of life that their parents had envisioned for them, with a nice house in the good school district. Yet, her parents were never able to finish the process of citizenship before they died and Zari let it slide like an idiot. This whole mess was her fault.

"Thank you Laurel," Zari said, finally looking over at her.

"I'll send you a document for the school that you can look over. If you get it back to me tonight, I can have it filed with the school tomorrow," Laurel nodded as she got up. She put a hand on Zari's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. "Just take it one step at a time. We're on track for your visa and your I-130. I'm still setting up the interview, but you're doing everything right to get your citizenship and everyone here is making sure that you're protected."

"Thank you."

"No problem," Laurel said before she left.

Zari sat alone in the library for another minute before Amaya came in.

"Damien Darhk was the one who ratted me out to ICE," Zari said, looking up at her.

"I'm sorry Zari," Amaya said, as she tilted her head and walked over to sit next to her. Amaya put her arm around her and pulled her in.

"Don't be," Zari said, welcoming her embrace. "You've done everything you could to help me and I truly appreciate it."

Amaya leaned in and kissed her and Zari let herself melt against her lips. They let themselves have a moment to each other before Zari stood up and held out her hand to Amaya. "Come on we should get back to work, before Sara barges in on us."

Amaya let her pull her up and shook her head. "Sara's actually being really helpful you know."

"Doesn't make her any less annoying," Zari said as they walked out.

With Sara's direction, they got everything moved in and both Zari and Behrad's bedrooms put together before they finished for the day. Amaya and Zari agreed to have some alone time with the kids so they said good night and parted ways at least until tomorrow. Since Monday was their day off, they planned to meet for breakfast and send the kids off the school together.

Zari enjoyed her time with Behrad but sent him to bed a little earlier than usual. She then pulled out a black duffel bag from under her bed. Quietly, she walked down the hall and checked on Behrad who was already fast asleep, exhausted after a day of moving, then crept downstairs and back into her father's library.

It was the one place in the house where she felt truly safe and Zari quickly set up her laptop and other equipment. In college, Zari used to be quite the hacker, but as the years went on, she slowly stepped away from it in favor of working legally for Amaya. Yet, she always kept the duffle bag of her old equipment ready to go in case they needed it. Once Zari had everything loaded and had completely shielded her computer, she began her search for everything and anything related to Damien Darhk.

* * *

Amaya was enjoying a lazy morning as she stretched and rolled back over in bed. It was a Monday and she would have to get Kuasa up for school and to meet Zari and Behrad for breakfast soon. She was glad that she didn't have to be in at the bakery that morning, as it was their day off.

Amaya reached out her arm only to feel the cold and empty space where Zari would have been. She understood and completely supported Zari's move, but that didn't mean she didn't miss her. Letting out a sigh, Amaya grabbed the extra pillow, pulling it towards her and wrapping her arms around it. She closed her eyes again and wished for a few more minutes of sleep.

Just as her mind had started to drift off in that place between thoughts and unconscious dreaming, the sound of her phone vibrating on her nightstand jerked her up. Amaya sighed and reached for her phone, smiling as she saw Zari's name and quickly answered her call.

"Hey you."

"Amaya I need you to meet me at the house as soon as possible."

Zari's urgent tone made her heart quicken as she got out of bed and went over to her dresser, pulling out a set of clothes. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I know who contacted ICE. I have proof that they did it along with the long list of other crimes, but it involves you and the kids," Zari said and Amaya knew that she was rubbing her forehead. Amaya paused and gently set the clothes on her bed. "I don't know what to do about all of it."

"Just take a deep breath," Amaya said and waited for Zari to mirror her on the other end of the line. "Have you called Laurel or Sara or Kendra?"

"No, I don't want to go to Laurel until you know, but I probably should call Sara and Kendra as it involves them too."

"Okay, why don't you do that, and in the meantime I'll get ready, get some food for breakfast, and bring it over for everyone?"

Amaya could hear Zari chuckle and knew she was smiling. "Do all of your solutions involve food?"

"A full belly makes everyone feel better, that's what my Mama always told me."

"Well, your Mama was probably right. She did a good job raising you."

"She did," Amaya said, remembering everything her mom taught her about baking and helping people.

"Alright, but how soon can you get here?" Zari asked, the worry back in her voice.

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes if I can get to Kuasa up soon."

"Better make it in half an hour, but thanks."

"Okay, I'll be there soon."

"I love you," Zari said, and Amaya's heart skipped a beat. No matter how many times Zari said it to her, it always felt like the first time.

"I love you too."

Zari ended the call and Amaya quickly got dressed and ready. Kuasa put up a bit of a fight, but she could see the worry on her face and was soon ready as well.

* * *

Zari paced back and forth in her office as she waited for Sara to pick up the phone.

"What the fuck Zari. It's like 6 a.m. on our day off?" Sara said, clearly not in the mood for the early phone call.

"Does Ava like Damien Darhk?"

"What?"

"Does Ava like principal Damien Darhk?"

"Zari what is going on?" Sara insisted and Zari heard Ava in the background ask her the same question.

"Can you just answer the question Sara?" Zari insisted and stopped pacing. She knew that Sara would be on her side no matter what, but she didn't want to cause any trouble with Sara's relationship with Ava.

Sara sighed and Zari could hear her sit up in bed and move around. "No, they're constantly clashing over curriculum and funding and stuff. He made her pay for a new curriculum change out of pocket. All because she wanted to include a more diverse historical curriculum. It was this whole thing, so no she doesn't like him. Now, what is this about?"

"Okay, can you and Ava come over as soon as possible? Amaya and Kendra are coming and she said she'll make breakfast for everyone, but I need to talk to both of you?"

"Are you and Behrad okay?" Sara asked, sounding truly worried. "Has something happened with the school?"

"I found some incriminating evidence about Darhk and you both should know about it."

"Okay, but this is something we should call Laurel about?"

"No, she doesn't need to be a part of this until we decide what to do. I don't want her getting in any sort of trouble," Zari said, finally sitting down and trying to speak as clearly and calmly as possible.

"Okay, we'll be right over."

"Thank you,"

"Of course," Sara said, before hanging up.

Sara was Zari's last phone call as she had called Kendra already. They were the three people in the world that she knew she could always count on and they would want to be a part of what she found. Zari fell into the chair and closed her eyes. She had stayed up all night only falling asleep at the keyboard for an hour around 2 a.m. on accident. The anxiety of the night and the revelation of what she had found started to get to her. So she decided to close her eyes for a few minutes.

The next thing she knew someone was knocking at her door and she quickly got up to go see who it was. Smiling and dressed Amaya with a groggy and grumpy Kuasa who was still in her pajamas were standing on her porch as Zari opened up the door.

"I promised her, she could go back to sleep on your couch," Amaya said, putting her arms on Kuasa's shoulder as she led the groggy girl into the house.

"Yeah, no problem. She can go up to my bedroom if she wants?" Zari said looking down at Kuasa.

"Yes please," Kuasa mumbled, already walking towards the staircase.

"Do you remember where it is?" Amaya gently asked her as Kuasa put one hand on the banister and seemed to lean on it as she walked up the stairs.

Kuasa just nodded and Amaya gave her a gentle smile as they both watched her until she got to the top of the stairs. Amaya stepped forward to give Zari a hug and she melted into her arms. She was relieved to have Amaya there again and she didn't realize how much she had missed Amaya until they were together again.

Amaya pulled back but wrinkled her nose as she tugged at Zari's shirt. "Is this what you were wearing yesterday?"

"Umm," Zari looked down at the shirt she was in fact wearing yesterday and realized she had not showered or changed in the past 24 hours. Even after they got finished moving, she probably didn't smell too well either. "Why don't I go hop in the shower."

"I'll get breakfast started and let the others in when they get here," Amaya said, already taking a step back from her. Her nose wrinkled up in a way that told Zari that she did in fact stink.

By the time she had showered and changed, Amaya had already made breakfast with Sara, Ava, and Kendra sitting at the table eating.

"Where are the other kids?" Zari asked, and she walked into the room seeing only the adults.

"Carter's with Hector," Kendra said looking up from her eggs.

"And Laurel's watching Gary and Sin," Sara added, putting down her fork and going over to give Zari a hug. "We'd figured it'd be easier not to drag them out of bed and we weren't sure if they should be involved in whatever this is."

Zari nodded and Sara pulled back, making room for Kendra to pull Zari in for another hug. Amaya put a plate of food in front of her and Zari quickly ate. There was a slight tension in the room, but everyone seemed to understand wanting to eat before getting into the heavy stuff.

"So Laurel's watching both Gary and Sin? You four must have had a fun sleepover last night," Kendra's said with a teasing smile.

"Fun for the kids and for the adults," Amaya said, sending Ava and Sara a wink.

They all chuckled and Zari took another bite of her food in order to avoid saying something sarcastic to them. She knew Sara wouldn't mind, but she didn't want to offend Ava who was already turning a deep shade of red.

"Shut up," Sara said with a playful smile. Ava hid her blush in Sara's shoulder as they sat next to each other. "Ava and I are in a happy and committed relationship and both of our children are comfortable with each other."

"Well, we are all very happy for you," Amaya said, as she turned off the burner and put the dishes in the sink before throwing the towel over her shoulder. She walked over towards Zari who put an arm around her waist.

"Yeah, just don't hurt her Ava," Kendra said, looking pointedly over at her as Amaya and Zari nodded in agreement.

"Believe me, I have no intention of ever harming Sara," Ava said, looking over at Sara with a kind of soft and loving look that Zari knew meant she was head over heels.

They may be overprotective, but with Sara's history of doomed romances, they had a right to be. The three of them knew to let it happen, but that didn't mean that they didn't feel the need to protect her. If they ever got their hands on Oliver Queen, they would all need Laurel to represent them.

"Alright, enough of the lovey dovey stuff," Kendra said looking pointedly over at the couples. "Zari you said that you had something important to tell us about what you found about Damien Darhk."

The light hearted moment was gone and Zari pulled away from Amaya. She pulled out her laptop from where she had left it on the counter. There was so much information that it took her most of the night to go through and even longer to compile it into a damning folder of evidence. She pulled up the few documents that she compiled that would put him in prison and turned her laptop towards them, so they could read through the documents she had.

"Yesterday Laurel gave me a video recording of Darhk contacting ICE and giving them my address and the address of the bakery. He never identified himself so she couldn't prove it was him, but she said she was going to try. I decided to do some digging of my own. I got into the school's records and started looking through things. I wasn't sure what I would find, but I figured if he was giving out my information, chances are he was giving out those of others as well. I couldn't really find anything so I went into the school's finances. It turns out that Darhk has been secretly taking money off the top of the budget and putting it into his own pockets. You can see the money here at the top of this document matches the deposits made in this account. It's a secret account that he has in the Caymans, and it's under an LLC, but I was able to trace it back to him. Some of it's not in his name but in Nora Darhk's name. I don't know how much she is involved in this but."

"No," Ava said, shaking her head. "There's no way Nora is involved in this. I mean yeah she has a trust fund from her father, but she doesn't touch it. Unlike her father, Nora is a good person she can't be involved in this."

"That's what I was thinking as well. I was able to trace withdrawals and deposits from this account to things that Darhk purchased and currently owns," Zari said as she watched all of her friends process the information.

"He told me there wasn't room in the budget for a new ramp into the school," Kendra said she looked shocked as she covered her mouth with her hand and seemed to sink into her chair. "That money should have gone to building a ramp so that my child can access the school safely."

"And it's not just a little bit of money," Sara said, she put a hand on her belly as she skimmed through the documents with a look of worry across her features. "It's at least a half of a million dollars and that's just for one year."

"How could this have gone on for so long?" Amaya said, looking over at Zari in astonishment.

"Given what's here, I'm guessing that it's been going on for as long as he's been the Principal," Zari said sitting back.

"It's not just the ramp, it's all of the little things he told us we couldn't get. We had to clean our own classrooms, pay for our own supplies, our books, our curriculum. We just had a fundraiser to pay for a new sports field. He asked teachers to donate part of their paychecks and we did, and look, he took at least a quarter of that money. We are the ones who made that school number one in the city. It was because of our hard work and he just did it to get rich." Ava's voice was full of disgust as she turned away, rubbing her forehead.

"What are we going to do about this?" Amaya asked, she had a look of fierce determination across her face that fueled Zari's own need for justice.

"I have carefully printed out everything that I found, but I don't know who to send this to," Zari said with a shrug and a shake of her head. "If I send it to the wrong person, they will just sweep it under the rug. I want to make sure they have to prosecute him."

"He has to pay for what he's taken from our kids," Kendra said, staring at the documents as if she could burn a hole through them.

"Yeah, we have to make sure he doesn't get away with this," Sara said as she looked up from where she had been going over everything on Zari's computer.

"We?" Zari asked, she didn't think her friends would want to be involved in this, given that it definitely involved a few crimes.

"Yes," Amaya said, walking over to her and putting a hand around her waist and standing next to her. "We're in this together and will help, however we can."

"Even though you've already done all the hard work," Sara said, giving her a smile.

"I know exactly who we can give this to in the school district who won't sweep this under the rug," Ava said, turning back around and rejoining the conversation. "My adopted father Hank Heywood. He works in administration for the school district. He'll make sure this gets investigated.."

"We should give it to some journalists as well just in case," Amaya said, giving Zari's waste a squeeze.

"One of my old friends from college, Iris West is a journalist over at the Star City Chronicles," Kendra added, getting up and coming over to put her arm around Zari's other side. "She'll make sure this gets published."

"I don't think any news editor would turn away this kind of story," Sara said, turning away from the computer and pulling Ava close.

"Good, we have to make sure that this isn't ignored." Zari nodded, feeling more sure than she had this morning.

"Because of you, it won't be," Amaya said, leaning over and giving Zari a kiss.

* * *

The women spent the rest of the morning sorting through the evidence and writing a statement to be placed on top of the stack of files. Kendra contacted Iris and agreed to meet up and hand over the documents under the condition that Iris wouldn't release anything unless the school failed to properly investigate Darhk. Ava and Zari contacted Hank with the information and worked with him to find a time to anonymously drop off the files. By the time Kuasa and Behrad were both up and ready for school they had everything sorted.

"Okay so I will drop off the kids at school and keep an eye on Darhk throughout the day," Ava said as she gathered her things.

"Kendra and I will meet up with Iris," Sara said standing in the doorway as she handed Ava her coat.

"And Amaya and I will have a courier drop off the documents for Hank and then we'll all just come back and hang out here," Zari finished, handing Amaya her keys.

"I'll try and make it back for lunch, but if I don't I'll check in after school lets out," Ava said, leaning in to give Sara a quick kiss as she hands brushed Sara's her belly and waist.

Zari was so relieved to have Amaya go with her even if they were just handing the documents off to a courier. Despite her worry, having Amaya there put her at ease.

"After that, I guess we just have to wait," Kendra said as they all just stood in the hall reluctant to go.

"Yeah, from what I know it shouldn't be more than a couple of weeks before Darhk is fired. Although school lets out for the summer in a few weeks so who knows," Ava said, as she lingered and held Sara's hand.

"Here's hoping that it all goes smoothly and Darhk is out before the end of the year," Zari said, with a nod.

"Thank you Zari," Ava said, pulling her in for a hug. "Without you, none of this would be happening."

Kendra, Sara, and Amaya each piled in on the hug and whispered their thanks to her. They just stood there for a moment hugging each other until they had to part.

Ava left first and then Kendra and Sara. Zari looked over at Amaya as she pulled out of the driveway. If this worked, it wouldn't mean that ICE would never be trying to deport her. But it would mean that other families at the school wouldn't have to go through what she was and that alone was worth fighting for.


	8. When I Get All Steamed Up, Hear Me Shout

"Hey," Ava said as she swung open the door to greet Sara and Sin. Sin gave her a wave before running off to find Gary and Sara let out of breath as she stepped past her into the house.

"We have got to tell the kids today," Sara said, spinning around to look at her as Ava closed the door.

"What? I thought we agreed on next week. I know we're into the second trimester now, but we just have one more week left of school and then we're in the clear," Ava said, crossing her arms as they stood in the hallway.

"Well, we're going to have a hard time keeping this from them," Sara said as she pulled up the black blouse that hung off her frame to reveal her baby belly, not a bump, a full belly, that rounded out from under her ribs.

"Your showing!" Ava instantly smiled as she walked up and put her hand on Sara's belly.

"Yeah," Sara said, breaking out into a smile as well. "I noticed that I was showing last week, but since then, they've just gotten bigger."

"Yeah, that's partly because it's your second," Ava said, still marveling at their baby.

"I never got this big until I was about fifteen weeks along with Sin. Hey, do you still have that bouillon chicken base from the soup you made last weekend?" Sara asked, turning away and already heading towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's in the fridge," Ava said, dutifully following her. "Well Gary was bigger than Sin so this one is bound to be bigger too, but hopefully not by much."

"Ugh, don't remind me. I can't believe he was over nine pounds, I got so big with Sin and she was only seven pounds. I can't imagine how big I'm going to get with this one, and there is no way I'm pushing out a nine pound baby."

Sara opened the fridge and started rifling around as Ava smiled down at her belly. It was obviously there and was definitely noticeable as Sara had a flat stomach before.

Sara found the jar of bouillon and turned around to grab a spoon from the drawer. She spun off the top and sank down to sit on the floor up against the cabinets. Then she grabbed a large spoonful from the jar, stuck it into her mouth, and sighed in content. Ava made a face, not knowing how Sara could eat the salty chicken flavored seasoning, but also knew how crazy pregnancy cravings could be.

"How are you doing Sara?"

Sara sighed and looked up at her. "I'm pregnant."

"I know," Ava gave her a little smile and sat down next to her on the floor. "Anything else?"

"Well, I'm not throwing up anymore and now I eat everything in sight, but then I get heartburn. I'm getting big and I'm so hormonal. I bought a pair of compression socks because I've got Varicose veins," Sara lamented as she swirled her spoon around the jar. "And I'm dizzy and I keep forgetting stuff and things, and with you and me and the kids. It's just a lot right now."

Ava put her arm around Sara's shoulders. "Whatever you need right now, I'm here for you. I'll get you a whole truckload of tums and those compression socks that are super cute. I'll keep you steady, I'll write you notes and set reminders, and I'll help you in any way I can."

Sara gave her a small smile and leaned her head against Ava's shoulder. They sat against the kitchen cabinets until Sara's ass started hurting. Ava pulled Sara into her lap and wrapped her arms around Sara's waist, holding on to her as Sara closed her eyes. Ava thought she would fall asleep until Sara turned and looked up at her.

"I just can't keep this a secret from the kids anymore. I hate lying to Sin about why I've been acting differently and why I'm sick. This morning, they asked me why my stomach was so big and I just froze. I wanted so badly to tell them the truth, but I didn't. Instead, Laurel just told them that it was because I've been eating too much ice cream. I don't know, I just want everything to be settled. I want us to be a family and I just, I don't know."

As Sara spoke she cradled her belly and Ava put a hand over hers. "Also the nesting instincts have kicked in early and they are strong! I got out Sin's old clothes, the bassinet, I even bought diapers, and I bought a set of mountain pictures to hang in the nursery. So I hope you like them because that's our theme."

Ava listened as Sara lamented to her and waited until she was sure Sara was done speaking. "I get it. I also kind of got a little carried away when I was cleaning out the spare room this weekend."

"You got excited," Sara said with a knowing smile.

Ava smiled down at her and their wonderful little surprise. She had forgotten how exciting it was to have a baby and she had gotten a bit swept up in putting together the baby's room the past few days. She had brought out all of Gary's old baby things into the new baby's room.

"Can I see it?" Sara asked, setting her snack down.

"Of course and I have a surprise to show you as well," Ava said, getting up and holding out her hand to Sara who rejected it.

With one hand on the counter and the other cradling her belly, Sara got up by herself. "I'm not helpless yet."

"I can't imagine you ever being helpless."

Sara just smiled at her and put the chicken bouillon away. Ava made a mental note to break out a new one before she started on dinner that night. She led Sara up the stairs and down the hall. They passed Gary's room and peeked in on him and Sin setting up a Lego City.

When they got to the door, Ava had Sara close her eyes. Ava put an arm around her waist and led her into the middle of the room, where Sara could get a view of everything.

"Okay, open them."

Sara opened her eyes and looked around the room. Ava had bought out the old rocker and placed it in the corner, there was a little bookshelf, and a bare white crib was up against the wall. She had opened a few boxes of old baby clothes and the few toys that she had and put them on the shelf. It looked like the beginnings of a nursery and the photo of all four of them that hung above the crib brought it all to life.

The photo was one that Ava had captured rather spontaneously while the four of them were at the park last weekend. Both Gary and Sin smiled up at the camera as Ava and Sara stood behind them. They each had one hand on each kid's shoulders and one hand on Sara's belly. Sara walked up to it and put her hand over her mouth and Ava could see the tears welling in her eyes.

Ava came up behind her and put her arms around Sara's waist. She pulled her blouse and put her hands on her belly, cradling it. Sara's belly was just big enough to fit in both of her hands.

"It's us as a family, all five of us."

"Yeah," Sara whispered as she stared up at the photo.

They stayed like that, staring up at the picture, and Sara put her own hands over Ava's. They had only just agreed a few weeks ago that Sara and Sin would move in with her and Gary before fall. Ava had also cleared out the other guest bedroom for Sin and made space for Sara in her room. The kids already knew that they were dating and the four of them were all getting along better than they could have imagined.

"Hey Ava, can Gary and I go jump on the trampoline?" Sin called out as they came barreling down the hallway and into the room with Gary behind them.

Ava quickly removed her hands from Sara's belly, but Sara's sweater stayed up, leaving the very evident bump. There was no hiding it. With all of the baby clothes, the crib, and Sara's belly, it was obvious.

"What's all this?" Sin asked, looking around the room and then over at them.

"Yeah, Mama?" Gary said, stepping into the room and picking up one of the toys on the shelf. "Why do you have all this baby stuff?"

Sara looked over at Ava and Ava looked back at her. "Sin, Gary, we have something to tell you."

**cccc**

Sara sat down on the coffee table in the living room with Ava next to her. She took a deep breath and thought about what to say. Ava's knees bounced and Sara put a hand on her knee, soothing her. Ava glanced over at her and Sara gave her a reassuring smile, hiding her own nerves.

"Gary, Sin," Sara started, unsure how to break the news to them. She had just blurted it out to Ava, but she didn't want to shock them.

Ava looked over at her and squeezed her hand. Sara nodded and took a deep breath with her as they turned back to the kids.

"You two know that Sara and I were dating before we told you guys about us. We wanted to make things work out between us so that we knew for sure we could all be together," Ava said, as she talked in a steady clear voice. "But that's also because we're going to have a baby, and you two are getting a new baby sibling. Since we're having a baby, things are going to change around here."

Ava explained it so well and Sara just watched her talk. She had this whole big speech that she had more or less come up with on the spot, and it was perfect. Sin and Gary seemed to take things in strides and nodded along at certain parts, but looked confused at others, so Sara jumped in and added to Ava's explanation. They both talked together and parented together for the first time. It came so naturally to them and Sara took a second to smile over at Ava. They were officially a team, and soon they'd be a family.

"So, because the baby needs both of its Mom's, we need to live together when the baby comes in December. It wouldn't be right away, and we'll see how it goes. We want to do this because if we live together, we can take care of the baby and you and Gary. You both will get the same amount of time with your new sibling and you can get some special time with each one of us. We don't want either of you to feel left out." Sara explained to them as she put a hand on her belly now that she could without worrying about what Sin or Gary would think.

The kids seemed to be in a bit of shock as they just sat and looked up at both of them with different expressions. Sara watched each of them process it at different rates, before Gary smiled widely, while Sin still processed it.

"A baby?" Gary asked as he wiggled with excitement.

"Yeah, bud a baby," Ava said, with a nod that matched his excitement.

"Wait, so we have to move in with Ava and Gary?" Sin asked, throwing out their hands.

"It wouldn't be right away, probably in a couple of months, but I'm telling you now because I want to know if it would be okay with you?" Sara leaned forward to hold Sin's hands.

"Would I have to share a room with Gary or the baby?"

"No, we have enough bedrooms so there's one for you too. I actually cleaned it out and was wondering if you wanted to pick out a color for it?" Ava added, looking over at Sara briefly.

Sara nodded and they both looked back at Sin who was doing some more thinking.

"I don't know."

"That's okay, honey," Sara said, giving their hands an extra squeeze. "We can try it out and see how it goes okay?"

Sin nodded and sat back against the couch.

"How did the baby get in your tummy?" Gary asked, his question like a record scratching.

"Did you have sex?" Sin asked, Sara had given them the sex talk, along with the period and babies talk a couple of months ago.

"What's sex?"

Ava looked over at her with wide eyes and Sara met Ava's anxious expression with a shrug. Sin was old enough for the talk and Sara had told them that it was an adult act. But, she was never one to beat around the bush when it came to how bodies worked.

"It's a grown-up thing," Ava said as she struggled to find the words to explain it.

"Like kissing?" Gary asked, tilting his head as his eyebrows knitted together.

"Yes," Ava said, smiling as she relaxed, leaving her explanation at that.

"No," Sara interrupted, she could tell where this was going and watched as Sin and Garry got more and more confused. "Do you remember when I said that not every parent wanted their kids to know about _it_ until they were ready?"

"Yeah," Sin said with a nod, seeming to understand it more. "We were talking about delaying puberty hormones for me too."

"Mama you take hormones because you used to be a boy," Gary said, the look of confusion was gone and he seemed to be happy to understand what they were talking about.

"That's right," Ava said, reaching over to grasp Sara's hand and smiling as she whispered 'thank you,' to her. Sara nodded and they turned back to the kids together as Ava spoke. "I'm transgender which means that I take hormones to help me feel more like a girl."

"But that still doesn't explain why the baby is in Sara's tummy?" Gary said, with a shrug.

Sara and Ava smiled and Sara pulled up her shirt and pointed to her baby bump. "The baby is growing in my uterus, here. Right now the baby is still very small, about the size of a pear. They need to be inside me to grow. Like how a plant doesn't come out of the ground until it's ready, the baby won't come out of my uterus until they grow big enough to live outside of me."

"Oh," both kids said as they sat back, seeming content with everything Sara and Ava had said.

Sara looked over at Ava and Ava nodded at her. They both let out a sigh of relief, having done the hard part of all of this.

"Do you guys have any more questions?"

"What's sex?"

"I'll tell you later Gary," Ava quickly said, silencing everyone including Sara with a look.

Sara sighed and leaned forward towards Sin. "Do you have any questions kiddo?"

"No, I think I get it."

"Good."

"That's great," Ava said, clapping her hands together. "But remember the baby is still a secret, so we're not going to tell anyone right away."

"But Auntie Laurel knows, so it's okay to talk to her about this," Sara added as Ava looked over at her surprised. "She fingered it out when I threw out her candle."

"Wait, so is Sin going to be my sibling?"

"Kind of, if you want them to be," Ava said, with a smile, and Sara could see how happy she was that their family was coming together.

"They can be your sibling like the baby or you could call them your Nibbling like Aunt Laurel calls you her Niblett," Sara offered Gary the options as he smiled.

"Like a chicken nugget?" Gary asked with a giggle.

"I mean, not really," Sara said, trying to think of a better way to explain it to him, but Gary and Sin broke out into giggles and fell back onto the couch.

"Gary I'm your nugget. Bak bak."

"Well, then I'm going to eat you!" Gary declared, opening his mouth wide and pretending to bite at the air above Sin.

"Bak bak."

"Nom nom."

Ava looked mortified, but Sara couldn't help but laugh as well. She got up and joined them on the couch, laughing and playing alone, by clucking at Sin. Ava let her embarrassment go and sat next to Sin, joining in on the fun. Sin would bak and Gary would open his mouth to bite the air and even Sara joined in with a cock-a-doodle-doo and Ava pretended to bite at Sin and Sara.

The giggles seemed to never end because as soon as things settled down, one of them would start it all over again. Eventually, they sat down together. Sin leaned against Ava at one end of the couch and Ava put her arm around them. Sara laid down on the other end and Gary crawled over to lay next to her and put his hand on her belly.

"Hi baby, I'm your brother Gary and I love you," Gary said, leaning down to kiss her belly.

Sara couldn't hold back the tears that streamed down her cheeks and Ava looked up at her and rubbed her leg. She put one hand on Gary's head and reached out to hold Sin's hand as well.

"The baby and I love you too Gary," Sara whispered to him. "And Sin, we love you, and we love you too Ava."

Ava paused and tears collected in her eyes too. It was the first time Sara had said that she loved her and Sara didn't just say it to her, she said it to Gary too. It was all that Ava could have ever wanted.

"I love you too, and I love you Sin and you too Gary," Ava said, never taking her eyes off of Sara, but reaching out to give both of the kid's hands a little squeeze.

"Mama, you didn't say I love you to the baby," Gary said, sitting up and looking pointedly over at her.

"And I love you too baby."

Sara looked up and caught her eye as she smiled and brushed away her tears. Ava loved this woman, so much that it took her breath away and she loved the family that they now had.

Sara's phone dinged and she looked away to read it. "Hey, do you want to meet my Dad at lunch next week?"

Ava paled, oh boy there was no way they were keeping the baby a secret. Not at the rate Sara was growing and with both kids knowing. So she would be meeting her girlfriend's father while said girlfriend was visibly pregnant with her baby and both of their kids were bursting with excitement for a new sibling. Ava bit her lip and caught Sara's eye. Sara looked over at her and she knew that it would mean the world to Sara if they met.

"Yeah, just so long as he doesn't yell at me for getting you pregnant," Ava said, patting Sara's legs. "And it would probably be good for you and Sin to meet my family as well."

"We could meet everybody's family all at once for a big family reunion," Gary said, getting excited again and jumping off the couch to go grab one of the family photos Ava had on the mantle.

Sara looked over at Ava a little apprehensively, and Ava shared in her worry. "We're both adults and we have a plan. We're not rushing into this and they have to be excited for a new grandbaby."

"Yeah," Sara nodded, still not completely sure about this, but on board with the plan.

"Yeah," Ava nodded as well. "What was the worst that could happen?"

**ccccccc**

"Over here Papa," Sin said, waving him over and Sara looked up to see her dad excitedly walking over to them.

It had been a few weeks since they had agreed to meet up with their families for lunch, and the day was finally here. They had arrived at the restaurant and had been seated in the backroom allowing for the private announcement.

Sara took a deep breath and put a hand on her belly before moving it away. She had to remember that she couldn't do that for the rest of the night until after they had announced it, as it was a dead giveaway to her pregnancy. She instead got up and greeted her father after he pulled Sin for a Papa bear hug and said hello to Laurel.

"Hey Dad."

"Hey sweetie," Quentin said, leaning in to hug her.

"Hello Mr. Lance," Ava said, holding out her hand for him to shake. Ava got up and stood tall next to her.

"You must be Ava," Quentin said, looking her over with scrutinizing eyes as he shook her hand with a firm grip.

"Yes sir," Ava said, shaking his hand, probably with the same amount of force that he was using.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Ava. I've heard that you've been good to my daughter and grandchild," Quentin said, as he gave her an approving nod and Sara let out a breath of relief.

"Well, they're easy to be good too," Ava said, looking over at Sara fondly, before putting her arm around Gary, who had shrunk back into his seat. "And this is my son Gary."

Quentin gave him a more laid back and happy smile as he reached over to shake Gary's hand. "It's nice to meet you Gary."

Gary smiled as he shook Quentin's hand and relaxed against Ava's side.

"Mom's here," Laurel said, giving them a heads up and they looked over to see Dinah walking towards them.

"Grammy!" Sin shouted, getting up and running over to her as Dinah crouched down and held her arms wide open for her grandchild.

Sara always felt better when her mom was around. Growing up, Sara had always been particularly close to her Mom. Dinah was more accepting of Sara's wild ways, letting her daughter experiment and make her own path. Dinah made it a point to visit them at least once a year. However, since she had moved to Central City after the divorce, Sara hadn't seen her as often as either of them liked. So Sara was happy to have her back for a few days.

After having a little moment together, Sin and Dinah made their way back to the table where she quickly greeted Laurel and then Sara with a hug. As always Dinah took things with ease and greeted Ava.

"You must be Ava. I've heard such wonderful things about you from Sara and Laurel," Dinah said, pulling her into a hug.

Avis gave Sara a nervous smile over her shoulder but seemed to relax in Dinah's arms.

As quickly and as warmly as she greeted Ava, Dinah also greeted Gary, holding out her hand for him instead of a hug as he had eyed Dinah warily. "And you must be Gary, Sin said you've been a good friend to them and that you enjoy magic."

"Yeah, do you want to see this card trick I learned?" Gary said, instantly warming up to her.

"I'd love to," Dinah said as he sat down next to Sin and Laurel.

Quentin quietly nodded at Dinah and they both exchanged a cordial hello. As both Dinah and Quentin settled at the table and Gary began to show him the card trick, Sara and Ava secretly shared a look. Ava smiled gently and she reached over to take Sara's hands and put it over her belly. It was an action that eased both of their worries and Sara felt the baby flutter inside of her.

"Two down," Sara whispered to her.

"And two to go," Ava whispered back, looking past her and waving to Dorothy and Hank as they walked into the restaurant.

Both Sara and Ava got up at the same time to greet them. Sara straightened out her dress and tried to smile naturally.

"Hello dear," Dorothy said as she greeted Ava, pulling her in for a hug and a quick kiss to her cheek.

"Hi Mom," Ava said, quickly pulling back and reaching out to shake Hank's hand. "Hello Hank."

"Ava, it's good to see you, honey," Hank said with a warm greeting, despite their formal handshake.

Sara stood nervously next to Ava and watched her parents greet her before they finally turned to her with warm eyes.

"Mom, Hank, this is Sara," Ava said, introducing her and putting an arm around her waist.

"It's so nice to meet you Sara," Dorothy said, pulling Sara in for a hug.

"It's nice to meet you as well Mrs. Heyward," Sara said, trying to breathe as Dorothy squeezed her a little too tight.

"Oh please call me Dot. I'm only Mrs. Heyward at school," Dot said, finally letting go of her and pulling back to smile warmly at her, putting Sara at ease.

"Sara, it's good to meet you," Hank said, holding out his hand for her to shake. He gave her a firm grip and a tight smile that Sara was expecting, given what Nate and Ava had said about their father. That he was a very formal man, but with a soft side that he reserved for only in private.

"It's nice to meet you too Mr. Heyward," Sara said as she retreated to Ava's side. "Ava always speaks very fondly of both of you."

"Oh yes and Ava has said such nice things about you as well," Dot said leaning back against Hank and putting a hand on his chest. "Hasn't she Hank."

"She has," Hank said, merely acknowledging it.

Dot sent Sara a knowing smile and a wink, before going over and saying hello to Gary and Sin. Sara and Ava introduce both sets of parents to each other and so far everyone seemed to get along as they all sat down at the table. Ava pulled out Sara's chair for her and Quentin noticed. He caught her eye and gave her an approving nod, to which Ava smiled and nodded back.

"Where is Nathaniel," Hanks said, looking around, as the waitress came over to take their drink orders.

"He is on his way Dad, everyone is a bit early." Ava explained as she pulled out her phone to send Nate a quick text.

"I'm sure he'll be here any minute," Dot said, as she sent Hank a look.

Ava gave them a nervous smile and Sara put her hand between Ava's shoulder blades, gently rubbing up and down.

"So Ava," Dinah said, looking over at her pointedly. "Sara said you were Sin's school teacher. Is that how you both met?"

Sara could see how the smile Ava had put on her face betrayed how nervous she was. "Actually we met at the bakery, two mutual friends of ours were getting together and Sara was kind enough to hang out with me."

"That's so sweet," Dot said, putting a hand on her chest and tilting her head to smile at them. "Ava mentioned that you were a partner in the business, Jiwe's Bakery, yes."

"Yes, I run the business side of the bakery for Amaya Jiwe," Sara replied, matching Ava's nervous smile as she spoke.

"A small business, that's a good nice stable job I'm sure," Hank said in more of a questioning tone.

"It is," Dinah answered for her. "And it pays more than a teacher's salary I'm sure."

Hank looked like he was about to reply with another quip, but Ava managed to cut them off. "The Star City school district pays quite well actually and if you're asking whether I am financially stable I assure you I am."

"Okay," Sara said, holding her hand out before this turned into a full on argument. "Let's just clear a few things up. Ava and I are both financially stable enough to provide for each other and our children. We have seriously considered this relationship and how it will affect our children. We're both equally committed to each other and we love each other very much."

The last part was said as Sara reached over to grab Ava's hands and held it on the table. Ava looked at her with soft eyes and the first genuine smile Sara had seen since they had sat down.

"Well, I guess that settles it, for now," Quentin said, taking a sip of his water as the waitress came back to pass them around.

"I suppose so," Hank said, as both of their families exchanged a mutual nod of agreement, and Sara and Ava let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey," Nate said as he approached their table and leaned down to give Dot a quick kiss before he sat down. "I hope I didn't miss anything."

Sara couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up in her throat and quickly hid it as she took a drink of her water. Everyone settled in and the rest of the meal went off without a hitch. Both of their families got to know each other as they talked and laughed and exchanged family stories. Ava looked over at Sara, putting an arm around her chair, she pulled her close and reached over to put a hand on Sara's belly, under the table.

When the waitress came and took away their plates, Sara and Ava gave Laurel the signal to take the kids for ice cream at the place across the street.

"Alright, who wants ice cream?" Laurel asked, standing up and grabbing her purse.

"I do, I do," Sin said, jumping up and down in their seat.

"I can have two scoops, right Mama?" Gary asked, looking over at her.

"Yes, I said you could baby," Ava said smiled over at him as he wiggled with excitement.

"I think I'd like some ice cream too," Quentin said, getting up from his seat.

"Actually Dad, why don't we let Laurel and the kids go grab ice cream for us?" Sara said, trying to be nonchalant about the whole thing. Of course, her Mom picked up on it and sent her a questioning look, but grabbed Quentin's arm and pulled him back down.

"Sara is right, let's go," Laurel said, ushering Gary and Sin out.

The mood in the room immediately shifted as Laurel and the kids walked out of the restaurant and then both sets of parents immediately turned their eyes to Sara and Ava. Ava took a deep breath. They had both agreed to speak together to both of their parents and had gone over what they would say on the phone the night before.

"Sara and I wanted you both to meet so that we could all get to know each other as a family, because we are going to be a family." Ava began as she nervously looked between Sara's parents, her own, and Nate who seemed to be stuck in the middle.

"It wasn't planned, but Ava and I have chosen to do this. We've fallen in love and are ready to have a family together." Sara continued where she had left off and put a hand over Ava's on her belly.

"Sara, sweetie," Dinah interrupted her. "If you two want to get married..."

"It's not that Mom," Sara said, looking over at Ava who nodded at her. "I'm pregnant. We're having a baby and co-parenting together."

The silence that filled the room could have been cut with a knife. Even Dinah, who was never one to judge her daughter, sat in silence as she absorbed the news.

"Oh my God, congratulations," Nate said with a large smile blooming across his face. He immediately got up and went over to wrap them both in a hug.

"Thank you Nate," Ava said as she and Sara let themselves smile and enjoy Nate's enthusiasm.

"This is so exciting! A new niece or nephew!" Nate said as he looked between both of them.

"It is very exciting," Dinah added as she stood up and walked over to them. "And as adults, I trust that you both know what you're doing."

Sara got up as her mother walked around and felt the stress fall off of her shoulders. No matter what, if Sara knew she had her Mom on her side, everything would be okay. Dinah pulled her in for a hug and when she pulled back, Sara pulled at her dress to outline her belly. Dinah gasped and placed her hand on her belly. Sara glanced up to see that everyone was looking fondly at her baby.

"Dinah is right. These two are both adults and they haven't taken this lightly. We should trust them and support them," Dot said, getting up and walking over to hug Ava and Sara as well.

Ava let herself melt into her Mom's arms. When she pulled back, she looked over at Hank and Quentin who seemed to still be mulling over the announcement.

"You both have thought this through?" Hank asked, looking over at them.

"We have," Ava answered, putting her arm around Sara's waist.

"Sara, can you promise me you won't run out on my daughter?"

Sara glanced over at Ava and Ava knew from the loving look that Sara would never do that to her.

"I can promise you that I love your daughter very much Mr. Heyward and I know what it takes to raise a child, as I have one of my own. I would never willingly abandon either of them."

Hank gave her one of his signature approving nods, as he was never one for hugs.

Quentin was the last one to get up and walk around to them.

"I want you to take care of my daughter and grandbabies," Quentin said as he gave Ava a hard look.

"I will. I promise," Ava said with a nod as she looked over at Sara with a fond smile.

Quentin's hard look fell as he smiled and pulled both of them in for a hug.

"I suppose I shouldn't judge, you've got everything figured out and I can see that you're not rushing into this," Quentin said putting a hand on Sara's belly. "Besides how can I be anything but happy when you're giving me another grandbaby."

Laurel, Gary, and Sin came back at that moment, with ice cream across their faces. Quentin pulled his hand back and ruffled Sin's hair as they handed him the ice cream.

"Did you tell them about the baby?" Sin asked as Sara grabbed a napkin to wipe their face.

"We did," Ava answered with a smile as she did the same with Gary.

"I'm gonna have a new niece or nephew!" Nate said, practically bursting with excitement.

"Or nibling." Laurel added matching his smile as Quentin and Dinah looked over at her with the same amount of surprise that they had for Sara and Ava, and Laurel just shrugged. "Sara was terrible at hiding it."

"Yeah, I'm going to be a big brother," Gary said standing up tall and proudly until Ava wiped his face.

"And I'm going to be a big chicken." Sin loudly proclaimed to the whole restaurant.

**cccc**

The doorbell rang and Sara smiled as she swung open the door to see Mick, Lisa, Lita, and Sin piled to the small hallway.

"Hey you, Sara said, putting her arms around Sin. "Did you have a good time ice skating?"

Normally Sara would have gone with them to their ice skating rink, but with Laurel and Tommy off on a picnic lunch and Ava and Gary at some magic show that Constantine was putting on. Sara opted to spend the afternoon getting back into her workout routine and doing some sparing with Kendra. Something she had finally been able to do now that she was fifteen weeks along and in the second trimester.

"Yeah, I was practicing going backward, but Uncle Mick made me wear too much protective gear and I couldn't see," Sin said with an eye roll.

"Yeah, because protecting your head is such a drag." Sara laughed and sent Mick a wink as he just smiled and nodded his head.

"You should have seen the butt pads your dad made me wear when I first started ice skating," Lisa said, turning around and mimicking the butt pillow, earning a laugh from everyone around her. "Overprotectiveness runs in the family."

"Yeah, well there's a good reason for it," Sara said as she took the backpack from Sin's shoulders. "You guys are always getting into way too much trouble."

"Trouble is part of the fun," Lita said with a smile.

"We should get going. You said you had a summer reading list to start," Mick said, putting a hand on Lita's shoulders.

"Ugh, summer homework is the worst!" Lita scowled as she crossed her arms.

"We should do some reading too kiddo," Sara said, as she ran a hand through Sin's helmet hair.

"Having your teacher date your mom is no fun," Sin said as they scrunched up their face.

"Yeah, I'm out," Lisa said, holding up her hands. "There's a reason I went to Nationals and not college."

Sin turned and hugged Lisa, who gave them an extra squeeze and a wink before she pulled back and hugged Sara.

"Bye Sin," Lita said, as they did, their special cousin's handshake ending in a fist explosion.

"See ya kid and take care Blondie," Mick said, with his usual nod of approval and gave her belly a little pat.

The little baby in her belly kicked and fluttered and Sara put a hand on her stomach, feeling them wiggle around. They all looked down at her belly and Lisa made little grabby hands before putting her hands on Sara's belly. Lita did a modified version of the cousin's handshake with her belly and Sin joined her for the last fist bump and explosion. Sara was relieved that they were so excited about the baby. They were also so supportive of her relationship with Ava and it meant the world to her.

"Bye!" Sin yelled after them with a wave, watching until they disappeared onto the elevator.

"It sounds like you guys have fun," Sara said, as she shut the door and they walked back into the apartment.

"Yeah, but do I have to read?" Sin asked as they knelt down to take off their black converse.

"Why don't you bring out your book and we can start reading together," Sara offered, with a yawn and Sin nodded, before running off to their room.

The sun streamed in through the windows and the heat seemed to seep in through the bricks. Sara propped up a box fan in the window and set it to blow on the couch as she sat down. It was one of those lazy Sundays where all you wanted to do was nap, but they had a book to read, so Sara settled in.

As she waited for Sin, thoughts of Leonard filled her mind. Now that she was pregnant again, she couldn't help but remember what it was like when she was pregnant with Sin and the memories of Leonard that came with it. He was so sweet with her and helped her out with everything, from late night food runs, to doctors appointments, and getting the nursery put together. He would massage her feet and hold back her hair as she was sick. Leonard took care of her, and after she gave birth to continue to take care of her and Sin. Leonard was so in love with both of them and they were his world.

Sara still dreams of him sometimes, and she often dreamed of the last day they were together. The way the waves sounded as they hit the rocky coast, the way they curved around the corners, the way the engine revved, and the way Leonard smiled over at her.

He picked a spot just against the cliffs where they could watch the sunset and pulled her into his lap. She still remembered the way that he smelled, like wind and sea salt with touches of his cologne that lingered on his collar. She remembered the way he held her, whispered in her ear how much he loved her, and how much she meant to him. Sara felt like they would be together forever. He looked at her like no one else did.

They stayed there till the night grew dark and he drove slowly around the curves as they drove home. He told her to go to sleep and relax, he'd carry her into the hotel and promise to wake her up if her Dad called about Sin. She drifted off, but the next thing she knew they were rolling over the road. She remembered how the blood was everywhere, and the car seemed to be smashed around them. She remembered how his arm was bracing her against the seat. She remembered screaming, trying to get him to wake up, but no matter how loud she screamed he didn't wake up.

"Mom, Mom."

Sara startled awake and sat up. She looked over to see Sin just standing next to her, looking just as frightened as she felt. Sara leaned forward and wrapped her arms around them, trying to hold back the sobs that shook her body.

"I'm okay, it's okay baby," Sara said, she didn't want to frighten them and took several deep breaths, to try and calm herself. "I'm sorry I scared you. It's okay."

"Did you have a bad dream?" Sin whispered as they patted her back.

Sara took a deep breath and squeezed Sin a little tighter. "Yeah baby, but it's all over now and it was just a dream."

Sin nodded and wiggled out of her arms. "I'll go get Leo."

They quickly rushed off and then came back with Leo the lion and the picture frame of Leonard and them that sat on their nightstand.

"Here, Leo will scare all the nightmares away," Sin said, as they crawled back into her lap.

Sara laughed as she placed Leo on her chest while holding the picture. Sara turned so they could both hold the lion and look at the photo.

"Your Daddy was the best at scaring away the nightmares, wasn't he," Sara said as they looked down at the picture and Sin gently outlined his face with their finger.

"He still is," Sin said, hugging Sara tighter. "Daddy will always watch over us and keep away the nightmares."

"That's right."

Sara held Sin and just watched them for a moment. Sometimes missing him felt like an ache in her soul. Having Sin around made it feel both better and worse. She had the best reminder of him and a lifetime of things he would never see them do.

She barely even knew when the door to the apartment opened. She just assumed it was Laurel getting back, but was greeted by Gary rushing up to them. He leaned down, half falling on them, to wrap them both in a hug.

"Hello."

"Gary, remember what we said about personal space," Ava smiled as she walked over and picked Gary up, tickling his sides.

Sara looked up at Ava and smiled, happy that she was there. Yet, Ava seemed to freeze at the sight of them and stared down at the photo in their hands.

"Who's that?" Gary said, pointing at Leonard in the photo as he wiggled out of Ava's arms.

"That's my Daddy," Sin said proudly. "He used to run a figure skating rink with my Aunt Lisa. He took her to nationals and he taught me how to ice skate. This is Leo, a part of my Daddy lives in him and he scares away the nightmares."

"Cool, it's like magic."

"Yeah."

Sin and Gary continue to talk and Sara looked up at Ava who seemed to close herself off. She briefly caught Sara's eye as she walked away. "I should get going on dinner or something."

Sara just nodded, knowing Ava needed time. It was easier for her, Ava's ex-wife was the bad guy and Sara didn't have to like her. Ava's past was all said and done. Even if they did have to see her again, Sara knew that she didn't have to play nice to the girl who broke Ava and Gary's heart.

Things with Leonard were different. Leonard was part of her and he was Sin's dad. He would always be a part of their family. She and Ava had talked about it before, but only briefly and Ava seemed to deal with Leonard as if he was just a piece of her past. Sara decided just to let her deal with it on her own, with Ava knowing that Sara loved her.

**cccc**

A few nights later they were all over at Ava's place getting ready for bed. Sara stopped the dryer and pulled out two warm blankets for Sin and Gary. She quickly wrapped it up to hold the heat and walked down the hall. Gary was in his room with Ava who was helping him pick up the last of his toys.

Sara opened the blanket, coming up behind him to wrap it around his shoulders. Gary cuddled into the warmth and gave her a hug.

"Thanks Sara, goodnight," Gary said, turning around to kiss her cheek and pressing an extra kiss to her belly. It was something he had started doing after they told the kids and something she was still getting used to. "And goodnight to you too baby."

Ava put the box away on the shelf and tilted her head as she smiled over at then. Sara smiled at her as Gary untangled his arms from her waist and crawled into bed.

"Goodnight Gary," Sara said, leaning down to kiss his head.

"Ready to be tucked in?" Ava asked, already pulling the covers up to his chin.

"Yep."

Sara smiled at them and let them say goodnight to each other, going off in search of Sin, who was probably still in the bathroom. Instead, Sara heard Sin's voice coming from the baby's room. The room was dark as Sara opened the door and peeked in. Sin was standing in the crib and had put something into the corner of the framed photo of them.

"There you go Daddy, now you can watch over all of us at Ava's house," Sin said, looking up at the photo, it was the one from the frame on top of their dresser of Leonard sitting at his desk at the ice rink. "Today I played with Gary and we made a huge fort. Then we watched a movie and we had s'mores in the backyard because Ava has a campfire pit!"

Sara let Sin have a moment alone as they talked with their dad. It was something they often did, mostly before they went to bed and especially when they were missing him.

Sara didn't realize she was holding the blanket tightly up against her chest until Ava put a hand on her arm. She turned to look at Ava and let go, taking a deep breath. She went to put her arms around Ava, but she stepped away and just looked down. Ava gave Sara's arm another squeeze and nodded her head, before walking away towards their bedroom.

Sara took a step to follow her, but she wasn't sure what she would say. So she decided to put Sin to bed before she talked to Ava. Sara peeked in the door again and wordlessly walked in greeting Sin with a smile as they turned around. She walked over to Sin, putting the blanket around their shoulders and hugged them close.

"Hey Mom, I was just telling Dad about the s'more you made and how gross it was," Sin said wrinkling up their nose.

"It wasn't that bad," Sara said as she bopped their nose. "Besides, I ate much worse things when I was pregnant with you."

"Ugh like Broccoli," Sin said, sticking out their tough and doing a full body wiggle.

"Yeah, I ate all that Broccoli and you still don't like it," Sara said, giving them an extra squeeze and tickling their sides. "Are you ready to go to bed, or do you want to keep talking to your Dad?"

"I'm ready," Sin said as they turned around to look at the photo and leaned in to kiss it. "Goodnight Daddy."

Sara smiled and blew a kiss to the photo as well. "Goodnight Len."

Sin turned back and hugged her. They tried to put their weight on her and make Sara carry them, but Sara put her hands on their waist holding them into place.

"Sorry kiddo, I'm already carrying one baby. I can't carry you too," Sara said with a frown as she pulled back.

"Sorry Mom, I forgot," Sin looked down and let go of her.

"It's okay," Sara said as she put down the side of the crib.

Sin crawled out and Sara put her arm around them as she let them down the hall back into Gary's room, where he was already snoring. They hadn't set up the bedroom for Sin yet as the grey paint, a compromise from black, was still drying. Sara pulled Sin in as she climbed into bed and lay down next to them. "But that doesn't mean I can't hold you like this."

Sin smiled and snuggled close to her, wrapping the blanket around both of them. Sara ran her fingers through their short black hair. When they were a baby Sin would only fall asleep in either Sara or Len's arms. They wanted to spend the entire day being held and Sara carried them around in a wrap for the majority of their first year. She was so honored to still be her kid's safe space and she would never pass up the chance to hold them.

Sara stayed with them and held them until they fell asleep. Then she slipped out from their arms and put a pillow into the space she previously occupied. She ran her fingers through their hair one last time and pressed a kiss to their forehead before she left the room.

Sara walked down the hallway and popped into the nursery seeing that the light was on. She paused to see Ava standing in front of the crib looking up at Len's photo. She snuck up behind Ava and wrapped her arms around their waist. Ava didn't jump this time, but she did startle and looked back at her before leaning in and holding Sara's arms around her waist.

"Sin wanted their Dad to watch over the new baby too."

Ava reached up and took the photo out, before turning around and handing it to Sara. "You should give it back to Sin. I know how important the picture is to them, besides this is our baby, we'll watch over them."

Sara just shook her head, she untangled herself from Ava and put the photo back. "Yeah, but Leonard is Sin's father and he's a part of their family, which makes him a part of our families."

"Sara, he may be Sin's father, but he's not a part of our baby's family. You, me, Gary and Sin are," Ava said, grabbing the photo again and handing it back to Sara.

Sara looked at the photo and then looked over at Ava as her eyebrows knitted together. "Ava..."

"I get it Sara. I don't mind Sin having Leonards's photo in their room and stuff, but this baby is yours and mine alone. We're going to be a family just the four of us."

Sara gave Ava a hard look and put Leonard's photo back in the corner of the picture, before crossing her arms and standing in front of the crib.

"Len is a part of our family and when you committed to having a family with me and Sin that includes Leonard in whatever capacity Sin wants. This isn't just about you and me is about Sin and I won't force them to keep their father to themselves. If they want the photo in the nursery with the baby, then that's where it's going to be."

"Sara, that's not what I asked," Ava said, trying to walk up to her and reached out to her, but Sara turned away.

"That is what you asked. Look Ava, we both have a past. We have past relationships that still affect us. We both have baggage." Sara said, throwing up her hands, she hadn't realized that she had raised her voice and took a deep breath. "You have Gary's mother and I know that you're not as open about her with Gary. I don't even know her name. You don't have any pictures of her up and I respect that, but Leonard is a part of my family and a part of Sin. I won't erase that."

Ava looked down and crossed her arms as well. "Things with Gary's mom and I are completely different. She chose to leave and have nothing to do with me or Gary."

Sara took a step towards her. "I know, but that doesn't mean Gary doesn't want to know about her. Sin wants to know about their father. I won't keep Leonard from them and neither should you."

Ava looked up and unfolded her arms, taking a step towards her. Sara reached out to hold Ava's hands and gave them a squeeze.

"You and me and Sin and Gary and this baby," Sara said holding Ava's hand and putting it on her belly. "Are a family and nothing is going to change that. But our past led us to this moment and they are still a part of us. They deserve whatever place we choose to give them. Please let me and Sin have this place."

Ava moved her hands to hold the curve of Sara's belly and looked up as she felt a drop of water. Sara had silent tears falling down her cheeks as she looked down at their hands. Ava reached up to hold Sara's face and Sara leaned into her, wrapping her arms around Ava's waist.

"You're right," Ava whispered in Sara's ear as she brushed away her tears. "I'm sorry Sara, I shouldn't have tried to take Leonard away from you and Sin."

Sara just nodded as her tears fell. Ava rubbed her back and let Sara cry as she led her out of the room. She led Sara down the hallway and into their bedroom, sitting down in a chair, and pulling Sara into her lap. The tears slowed and Sara's breathing became even again, and she pulled Ava's hand back to her belly.

Ava took a deep breath trying to settle her own nerves as she reached over to her nightstand. She opened the drawer and pulled out a photo, handing it to Sara.

"Her name was Anna. She was a realtor and we met when I was house hunting back in Fresno. She was wild and spontaneous. She was never one for marriage and a family but she did it for me. I thought she would be happy but, I guess domestic life was too boring for her."

"She said that?" Sara said, looking down at the photo of Ava with her arms around Anna as they both laughed in the photo.

"When she left, I threw out everything that reminded me of her. I just felt so angry. I got rid of everything except for a few photos of her and Gary and this." As Ava spoke she looked at Sara rather than at the photo.

"Does Gary know about this?" Sara asked, turning to look up at her.

"Sort of," Ava said, with a shrug. "He knows what happened, but he's never really asked many questions about her."

"I won't tell you what to do with this," Sara said, handing her the photo. "But if you want to give her photo to Gary I'd understand."

"She doesn't deserve a place in his life. She made that very clear on the day she left," Ava said putting the photo away and shutting the drawer. "But I think Gary deserves to know more about her."

Sara just hummed and nodded against her shoulder. They sat in the moment together letting themselves adjust and take in the emotions of the night. Ava noticed that Sara started to drift off and picked her up again to lay her down on their bed. She quickly changed and brought over a pair of pajamas for Sara, and Ava helped her change. By the time she crawled back into bed, Sara was asleep and Ava pulled her against her chest before she turned off the light.

Ava thought about what Sara said as she lay awake. Sara was right, despite how much Anna had hurt her, she was Gary's mother. He at least deserved to know more about her and when the time came, if he wanted to reach out to her, she would let him.

She turned and looked out at the stars that glowed against the black night. A gentle early summer breeze came in through the open window and she caught a glimpse of the Moon. Ava was never one to believe in heaven or hell, but as she looked up she thought of Leonard.

Leonard was a piece of Sara and of Sin, without him, they would have never met. She would have never had the family that she had today. She didn't have to compete with him and as she looked up, she thanked him for the family she had now. Ava held Sara tighter and put a hand on her belly as she thought about the two perfect kids sleeping down the hall, she knew she was never letting go.


End file.
